Tennessee basketball is back in action on Monday night as they host a strong Middle Tennessee State team in its penultimate non conference matchup of the regular season.
The Blue Raiders are the best team that Tennessee plays in a buy game this season. Combining that with a matchup right before the Christmas break and the Vols need to be locked in or they could have a competitive game on their hand.
Here’s everything to know about the matchup.
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How To Watch — No. 1 Tennessee (11-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. Middle Tennessee State (9-3, 0-0 CUSA)
- Start Time: 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT
- Location: Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center
- Watch: SEC Network. PxP: Roy Philpott. CC: Dane Bradshaw
- Online Streaming: Watch ESPN
- Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App
Betting Lines
- Tennessee -26.5 MTSU
- Over/under 143
- Tennessee -23 MTSU
- Over/under: 139
Probable Starters
Team Statistics (via KenPom)
Tennessee:
MTSU:
Individual Stat Leaders
Tennessee:
Points: Chaz Lanier — 18.9 PPG, 45.4 FG%, 47.1 3PT%
Rebounds: Igor Milicic — 7.7 RPG, 5.7 DRPG, 2 ORPG
Assists: Zakai Zeigler — 7.6 APG, 3.1 TOPG, 32.7 MPG
MTSU:
Points: Jestin Porter — 15.8 PPG, 45.1 FG%, 38.3 3PT%
Rebounds: Essam Mostafa — 8.8 RPG, 5.2 DRPG, 3.7 ORPG
Assists: Camryn Weston — 3.7 APG, 1.9 TOPG, 26.5 MPG
Last Five Games
Tennessee:
- 84-36 win versus Western Carolina
- 66-64 win at Illinois
- 75-62 win against Miami (New York City)
- 96-70 win versus Syracuse
- 78-35 win versus UT Martin
Middle Tennessee State:
- 67-65 win versus Lipscomb
- 75-64 win versus California Baptist
- 82-79 loss at Belmont
- 103-55 win versus Rhodes
- 76-59 win at UAB
Prediction
This feels like a classic trap game spot. It’s two days before Christmas and Tennessee’s team will have a few days off following the game. MTSU is a good team. They’ve beaten a number of good mid major teams to this point in the season and have the talent to give Tennessee a good game if they’re not sharp.
But MTSU hasn’t played any top competition to this point in the season. The Blue Raiders first power five team on their schedule is the No. 1 team in the country.
Tennessee also hasn’t given me any reason to think that they won’t be ready to play. This is a veteran team that has responded the right way all season to date.
Tennessee 81, MTSU 64
