Tennessee vs South Carolina Odds, Player Props, Picks & Predictions

Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht (3) moves between South Carolina defenders during a basketball game between Tennessee and South Carolina held at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Tuesday, January 30, 2024.The #17 South Carolina Gamecocks host the #4 Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday nightTennessee can clinch at least a share of the SEC regular-season title with a win, while the Gamecocks would move into a tie for first place with a victorySee the Tennessee vs South Carolina odds, player props, and predictions on March 6

One win away from their first SEC regular-season title since 2018, the #4 Tennessee Volunteers (23-6, 13-3 SEC, 7-3 away, 15-13-1 ATS) visit the #17 South Carolina Gamecocks (24-5, 12-4 SEC, 14-2 home, 21-8 ATS) at 7:00 pm ET on Wednesday night at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia.

Just a game back of Tennessee for first, South Carolina would move into a tie for the conference lead with a win tonight.

Riding a six-game win streak, the Vols come into Wednesday night’s massive game as 5.5-point road favorites.

Tennessee vs South Carolina Odds

The moneyline odds favor Tennessee at -233 while South Carolina comes back at +190 in Wednesday’s college basketball odds. The game total is sitting at 139.5. The Vols are 16-13 over/under this season. South Carolina is 13-15-1 O/U/

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Odds as of March 6 at BetMGM. NC residents can claim this BetMGM North Carolina promo before launch on March 11.

Tennessee projects as a #2 seed in the March Madness bracket at the moment while South Carolina slots in as a #12.

South Carolina Getting Little Respect

South Carolina has played eight games against teams in KenPom’s top 50 this season, going a solid 5-3 in those eight games. Yet, despite a phenomenal 24-5 win/loss record, the Gamecocks sit outside the top 40 at both KenPom (44th) and Haslametrics (49th) thanks to some lopsided and head-scratching defeats.

In addition to a 74-69 home loss to 93rd-rated Georgia on Jan. 16, South Carolina also lost by 40 at Auburn on Valentine’s Day and by 27 at Alabama in early January. They were also upset at home by LSU on Feb. 17 (64-63 as eight-point favorites) but rebounded with a trio of wins over Ole Miss (72-59 away), Texas A&M (70-68 away), and Florida (82-76 home).

They rate in the top 50 in both offensive efficiency (49th) and defensive efficiency (41st), and play at the ninth-slowest tempo out of all 362 DI teams.

Leading scorer Meechie Johnson Jr (14.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 3.0 APG) came up huge in SC’s last two game against the Aggies and Gators, scoring 22 and 25 points, respectively.

The Gamecocks best win of the season was undoubtedly their 63-59 upset of Tennessee in Knoxville on Jan. 30 as 14-point underdogs. They held the Vols to just 36.2% shooting from the floor and went 15-of-18 from the free-throw line, while Tennessee was just 12-of-18 from the stripe.

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Tennessee Wins Six Straight to Take Over SEC Lead

Since dropping an ugly 85-69 loss at Texas A&M on Feb. 10, the Vols have reeled off six straight wins to take sole possession of the SEC lead. While the first three of those games were against the SEC’s three lowest-rated teams – Arkansas (115th), Vanderbilt (207th), and Missouri (149th) – the last three have come against some of the stiffest competition the conference has to offer: Texas A&M (54th), Auburn (5th), and Alabama (9th).

Saturday’s road win at Bama was arguably Tennessee’s best of the season. Despite a pedestrian 13-point performance from leading scorer Dalton Knecht (20.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG), the Vols were able to overcome a seven-point second-half deficit to earn an 81-74 victory, the second of the season against the Tide.

Zakai Zeigler had a team-high 18 points and the Vols forced 12 Alabama turnovers while committing just six themselves.

Tennessee now sits sixth in KenPom’s efficiency ratings (19th on offense and third on defense) and seventh at Torvik (23rd on offense and fourth on defense).

TENN vs SC Player Props

Player props as of March 6 at DraftKings.   

The college basketball player props for Tennessee vs South Carolina list Knecht with a game-high point total of 20.5, basically right on his season average. A trio of Gamecocks are listed at 12.5 (Johnson, BJ Mack, and Collin Murray-Boyles).

Tennessee vs South Carolina Prediction

Tennessee is a legitimate threat in the March Madness championship odds (currently the fifth-favorite) but they are laying too many points on the road against a South Carolina team with high upside and an excellent home-court advantage.

The Gamecocks slow pace is prone to creating close, low-scoring games with high variability. At +190, I am backing Lamont Paris’ team to land a second straight upset over the Vols and keep their dream of an SEC title alive heading into the final game of the regular season at Mississippi State on Saturday.

TENN vs SC pick: South Carolina moneyline (+190)

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Sascha Paruk’s 2023-24 NCAAM betting record:

ATS: 16-17 (-2.48 units)Moneyline: 2-8 (-8.48 units)Over/Under: 0-1 (-1.00 units)Player props: 2-2 (+0.78 units)

All wagers one unit unless expressly stated otherwise.