SEC Rivals Meet in Knoxville: Florida at Tennessee

Florida Gators at Tennessee Volunteers, Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, TN
Tuesday, January 11, 2011, 9:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN
Opening Line: Tennessee -2
Current Line: Tennessee -3 1/2
Opening Total: 138 1/2
Current Total: 137 1/2
Money Line: Tennessee -175 / Florida +155

Erving Walker and the Gators are 3 1/2 point underdogs at rival Tennessee in SEC action Tuesday

Florida is 12-3 on the season and 1-0 in SEC conference play. They won at home versus Ole Miss 77-71 to open conference play. Florida has won 4 in a row including wins over Xavier and Rhode Island. Florida has losses to Ohio St, Central Florida, and Jacksonville on the season. They also have wins over Florida St and Kansas St on the year. The Gators travel to Knoxville to take on arch-rival 10-5 Tennessee. Tennessee is 0-1 in SEC play as they lost at Arkansas 68-65 Saturday. The Vols are playing without coach Bruce Pearl who is serving an 8 game suspension for violating NCAA rules. Assistant Tony Jones is the interim coach in Pearl’s absence. Tennessee started off the season 7-0 including winning the pre-season NIT. Then they lost 3 straight games they should have won, to Oakland, Charlotte, and USC. They also have a loss to Charleston on the year. Tennessee has beaten VCU, Villanova, Pitt, and Memphis on the season. Tennessee leads the overall series against Florida 69-49. Florida won the last game 75-62 in Gainesville last February. Tennessee had won 6 games in a row in the series before that. Three of the last four games have gone under the total in the series. Tennessee has gone 12-26 ATS against conference foes the last 3 season.

Florida forward Erik Murphy missed the Gators’ last game with a foot injury and is listed as questionable for the game against Tennessee. He only plays 15 minutes a game and averages 6.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and is tied for the team lead in blocks with 1.1 a game. Florida’s leading scorer is junior guard Erving Walker. He is averaging 14.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.4 steals a game to lead the team. Walker also shoots 44.9% from 3-point range. Guard Kenny Boynton averages 12.6 points, 2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists a game. Foward/center Vernon Macklin averages 10.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks a game. Guard Chandler Parsons averages 10.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists to lead the team, and 1 steal a game. Florida is outscoring opponents 71-60 on the season. They are shooting 46.6% from the field and 34.4% from the 3-point range. Gator opponents are shooting 41.3% from the field. Florida shoots 66.6% from the free throw line. The Gators average 38.1 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +7.9. They average 14.9 assists and 13.8 turnovers a game. Florida forces 13.6 turnovers a game on defense. They average 6.5 steals and 4.1 blocks a game.

Tennessee is led by guard Scotty Hopson. He averages 16.3 points to lead the team, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists a game. Forward Tobias Harris averages 15.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists a game. Melvin Goins and Trae Golden are tied for the team lead in assists with 2.9 a game. Goins also leads the team in steals with 1.7 a game. Brian Williams leads the team in rebounds with 7.9 a game. John Fields leads the team in blocks with 1.5 a game. Tennessee is outscoring opponents 75-69 on the season. The Vols are shooting 44.3% from the field and 33.1% from 3-point range. Tennessee opponents are shooting 40.8% from the field. The Vols make 68.2% of their free throws. Tennessee pulls down 39.9 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +6.6. They average 13.7 assists and 14.5 turnovers a game on defense. Tennessee forces 14.7 turnovers a game on defense. They average 6.6 steals and 4.2 blocks a game on defense.

These two teams are inconsistent, especially Tennessee. Tennessee looked like a completely different team in their 20 point rout at home against then #22 Memphis than they did in the 3 point loss at Arkansas. Granted, Arkansas is 11-3 on the year, but they have had a very soft schedule to start the season. Obviously, losing Pearl for 8 games will be a tough adjustment, but you honestly don’t know which team will show up for teh Vols from night to night. These two teams are very similar statistically, and I see a close game. I think these two teams are probably a notch below Kentucky, but both have the talent to contend for the conference title.