College Basketball Odds - Tennessee at South Carolina Game Preview

After making it to the Final Four last season, the South Carolina Gamecocks looked like they were on their way to a disappointing follow-up campaign. They lost three of their first four conference games, and they looked like they might finish at the bottom of the SEC East.

Things can change pretty quickly in college basketball though. South Carolina picked up upset wins on the road against Georgia and at home against Kentucky, and those wins may have saved its season. The Gamecocks will look for another big win when they host the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday evening.

This war on the floor will go down Saturday, January 20, 2018, at 6 p.m. ET at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.

Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu

South Carolina has now picked up wins and covers in three of its last four. This team has still yet to turn a profit for bettors this season though, with an 8-8-1 ATS mark.

If you like betting unders, the Gamecocks are the team for you. With Frank Martin’s brand of basketball, this team is not going to light up the scoreboard and will play good defense. Under is 11-6 in South Carolina games this season.

Tennessee had covered five of six before a tough road loss to Missouri on Wednesday night. It was the first loss against an SEC East opponent for the Volunteers and helps keep the division wide open.

Under has been a good bet in Tennessee games over the last few weeks. Under has now cashed in seven of the Volunteers’ last ten games.

Matchup to Watch

The frontcourt battle between these two teams will go a long way to determining who will emerge victorious. Tennessee is led by its two undersized forwards, Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield. These two players are the Volunteers’ two leading rebounders, and they are the leading scorers on the team as well. Williams is more of an inside presence, while Schofield is a great perimeter shooter and is hitting 44.3 percent from downtown.

Chris Silva is the main man up front for the Gamecocks. The 6’9 center from Gabon has played a bigger role now that Sindarius Thornwell is gone. He is the team’s leading rebounder and leading scorer, despite playing under 25 minutes a game. Martin’s rotations help keep him fresh and he probably does need to get off the court with some regularity as he is prone to get in foul trouble. Silva played a huge role in the team’s big win over Kentucky, so Tennessee will need to find a way to shut him down.

Key Stat

South Carolina has had a lot of trouble scoring points on the offensive end. The Gamecocks are one of the worst shooting teams in the nation, hitting a shade over 40 percent of their field goals. There isn’t a single player shooting better than 50 percent from the floor, and the only two players hitting better than 45 percent are Silva and Maik Kostar.

This offense is reliant on drawing contact and getting to the line. The Gamecocks got to the line 35 times in their win over Georgia and 38 times in their win over Kentucky. You can be sure that Rick Barnes is telling his players to keep South Carolina off the free throw line.

Free College Basketball ATS Picks

Under will be a good bet in this one based on how these teams play. Even with a total in the low to mid 130s, it’s hard to see this game going over without a lot of free throws. The Vols will limit those opportunities and this will be a slow, grinding game.

College Basketball Odds: Tennessee 65, South Carolina 62

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