Who’s Playing
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders @ Tennessee Volunteers
Current Records: Middle Tennessee 9-3, Tennessee 11-0
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What to Know
Blue Raiders fans better hope the squad plays one heck of a game on Monday as the odds are decidedly against them. They are taking a road trip to face off against the Tennessee Volunteers at 7:00 p.m. ET at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Blue Raiders are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they’ve averaged 80.8 points per game this season.
Middle Tennessee’s season wasn’t pretty last year but it’s starting to look like struggles are in the rearview. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 67-65 win over Lipscomb on Thursday. Having forecasted a close victory for the Blue Raiders, the oddsmakers were right on the money.
Middle Tennessee’s win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Essam Mostafa, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds.
Middle Tennessee smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they’ve now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in 12 consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Tennessee put another one in the bag on Tuesday to keep their perfect season alive. They simply couldn’t be stopped as they easily beat Western Carolina 84-36. The Volunteers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven contests by 22 points or more this season.
Tennessee can attribute much of their success to Jordan Gainey, who went 6 for 8 en route to 17 points plus five steals and two blocks, and Chaz Lanier, who earned 19 points in addition to seven rebounds and four steals. Lanier had some trouble finding his footing against Illinois last Saturday, so this was a nice turnaround. The team also got some help courtesy of Felix Okpara, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and nine rebounds.
Middle Tennessee’s win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-3. As for Tennessee, their victory bumped their record up to 11-0.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Middle Tennessee has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 41.1 rebounds per game. However, it’s not like Tennessee struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 39.5. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we’ll see if one team can grab an edge.
Odds
Tennessee is a big 26.5-point favorite against Middle Tennessee, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The line has drifted a bit towards the Volunteers, as the game opened with the Volunteers as a 24.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 142.5 points.
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