Sports-Odds Preview-Tennessee vs. Marquette: No. 16 Tennessee will try to rebound from its loss at unranked Temple on Saturday when it tips off with No. 23 Marquette at Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn tonight as part of the SEC-Big East Challenge. The Vols and Golden Eagles will play the second game of a double-header at approximately 9:30 pm ET following the game between Vanderbilt and University of South Florida that tips off at 7 pm ET.
The Volunteers are looking for a quality win having lost two of their last three games to Gonzaga and Temple. Marquette enters the game with an 8-1 record SU and 2-3 ATS. The Golden Eagles have not covered the betting spread in their last three board posted games. Tennessee has a 4-3 ATS record.
After beating North Carolina-Asheville on Dec. 3, Tennessee was ranked eighth heading into Saturday's match-up with Temple, but Owls' star Dionte Christmas scored 35 points to help his team thump the Volunteers 88-72.
"We're ranked too high," Pearl said. "We have a long way to go.” "Our reputation is we're a team that plays hard and (against Temple) I don't think we played that hard," Pearl said.
Tennessee, which hasn't lost consecutive regular season games since January 2007, can't afford to take it easy for a second straight contest, especially versus Marquette (8-1). The Golden Eagles have won three in a row since losing to unranked Dayton 89-75 at the Chicago Invitational on Nov. 29.
This is the first meeting between the schools since Dwyane Wade led Marquette to an 85-74 win over Tennessee at the 2001 Great Alaska Shootout.
The Golden Eagles lead 4-2 in the all-time series, but this will be the first time they will face a ranked team this season.
Sports-Odds Prediction: Tennessee will be hungry in front of a friendly crowd in Nashville. Look for the Volunteers to win big.[Bet on this game at super-sportsbook BetUS.com.]
South Florida is 3-4 entering Tuesday night's contest, after dropping a 70-55 decision to Niagara in Tampa. Jesus Verdejo leads a trio of Bulls in double figures with 17.6 points per contest. Dominique Jones (17.0) and Mike Mercer (12.0) also average double figures. Mercer played in his first game against Niagara Sunday after transferring from the University of Georgia.
Vanderbilt's defense has been a staple all season for the Commodores. Vanderbilt is only allowing opponents to shoot 36.6 percent on the year, and only two opponents have shot higher than 40 percent in a game. Vanderbilt has only allowed one opponent, on Dec. 3, to score 70 points or more (74). Five of Vanderbilt's opponents have failed to crack the 35 percent mark from the floor. Sunday night in
Sports-Odds Prediction: Vandy covers against a weak USF squad.
