After a week on the road, Tennessee basketball returns to Knoxville on Wednesday night where they’ll host Georgia in a top 25 showdown.
The Bulldogs are one of the SEC’s most improved teams and are coming off a week where they earned a pair of ranked wins in Athens.
Here’s everything to know about the top 25 matchup.
More From RTI: What Tennessee Basketball Said Ahead Of Top 25 Matchup With Georgia
How To Watch — No. 6 Tennessee (15-1, 2-1 SEC) vs No. 23 Georgia (14-2, 2-1 SEC)
- Start Time: 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT
- Location: Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center
- Watch: SEC Network. PxP: Brian Custer. CC: Richard Hendrix
- Online Streaming: Watch ESPN
- Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App
Betting Lines
- Tennessee -11.5 Georgia
- Over/under 134
- Tennessee -11 Georgia
- Over/under: 129
What Tennessee AC Lucas Campbell Said About The Bulldogs
On Georgia coming off a week with two top 25 wins
“Mike White’s done a great job with this group. I mean, Silas Demary and Asa Nowell and Somo (Cyril), they bring like a different physicality and that’s like the main thing we’ve been hitting, is they’re a very physical team and so we’ve got to match that physicality. Which we obviously didn’t do against Florida and in the first half against Texas we struggled on the glass. And so we’ve gotta match their physicality and I think we’ll do the job defensively. Keeping them, making them take shots that we want. They’re like third in the nation in dunks, something like that. And so we can’t let them get any uncontested looks at the rim. We’ve just got to do our job and do our part and I think we’ll be good. And then offensively we’ll just keep doing the things we do. Keep moving the ball, passing, getting open looks. Guys stay aggressive. I mean guys have been practicing great, they’ve got a great attitude so I think we’ll be fine there.”
On Georgia freshman center Asa Newell
“He is a really talented player and he looks really comfortable in college basketball, which is a hard adjustment to make as a freshman. Props to him. I think we need to be, hopefully start the trend of, making him struggle and giving him not a lot of opportunities. (Texas freshman guard) Tre Johnson did a great job. There was another freshman that (we had to deal with it). So we are gonna take (these) challenges of (defending) these really talented players. We gotta get Igor (Milicic Jr.), we gotta get D-Stone, we gotta get Cade, we gotta get all these guys locked in to make it hard on him. And if he makes tough opportunities, he makes tough opportunities. We wanna make that transition tough as he gets an SEC play.”
Probable Starters
Georgia:
Points: Asa Newell — 15.4 PPG, 58.1 FG%, 28.1 3PT%
Rebounds: Asa Newell — 6.8 RPG, 3.1 DRPG, 3.7 ORPG
Assists: Silas Demary — 3 APG, 2.6 TOPG, 29.7 MPG
Last Five Games
Tennessee:
- 74-70 win at Texas
- 73-43 loss at Florida
- 76-52 win versus Arkansas
- 67-52 win versus Norfolk State
- 82-64 win versus MTSU
Georgia:
- 72-62 win versus Oklahoma
- 82-69 win versus Kentucky
- 63-51 loss at Ole Miss
- 79-72 win versus South Carolina State
- 81-65 win versus Charleston Southern
Prediction
After a 1-1 week on the road, Tennessee is back at home. With the SEC as stacked as it is this season, defending home court is more important than ever. That’s especially the case against a Georgia team that isn’t one of the SEC’s best.
But that’s easier said than done, the Bulldogs are vastly improved this season. They’re a great defensive team and have the ability to turn this one into a slugfest.
I continue to worry about spacing for Tennessee as more and more teams sag off Jahmai Mashack. This game will come down to rebounding and turnovers. Both teams have been good on the glass and force a lot of turnovers while being a bit turnover prone themselves.
Vols defend home court but closer than they think in the desert.
Tennessee 70, Georgia 63
