Tennessee vs Arizona Odds, Lines & Predictions (Dec. 17)

• The Tennessee Volunteers head west to take on the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday, December 17th
• Both teams have 9-1 records and are ranked in the top 10 in the country entering this game
• Have a look at the Tennessee vs Arizona odds below, plus our best bet and prediction

A packed Saturday schedule of college hoops closes out with what should be one of the premier matchups of the weekend when the 6th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers (9-1, 6-4 ATS) take on the 9th-ranked Arizona Wildcats (9-1, 4-6 ATS) with both teams looking for their 10th win of the season.

Tipoff for this massive game in the college basketball odds goes at 10:30 pm ET from the McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona on Saturday, December 17th.

With home court advantage, Arizona have opened as -2.5 point favorites with the over/under total for this matchup set at 148.5 points.

This huge encounter can be seen on ESPN 2. We give you more of the Tennessee vs Arizona odds below, plus offer up our pick and prediction for the game.

Tennessee vs Arizona Odds

Odds as of December 16th at FanDuel Sportsbook.

It’s going to be a clash of excellent programs with contrasting styles in this contest. The offensively high-powered Wildcats have an implied win probability of 58.68% with moneyline odds of -142. Tennessee sits at +118 on the moneyline, giving them a 45.87% implied probability to win.

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Top-Ranked Defense Paves the Way for Tennessee

Defense and toughness are the calling cards of this Volunteers squad. According to KenPom, they rank first in adjusted defensive efficiency at 81.2. The accomplishments don’t stop there, as they are also first nationally in defending the three (20.2%), second in field goal defense (32.7%) and third in scoring defense (51.4 ppg).

In their last contest, they defeated Maryland in Brooklyn, 56-53. It was a low-scoring contest for both teams, but perhaps the most astonishing stat to come out of that game is that Tennessee held the 20th-ranked Terrapins to just a single two-point field goal in the second half.

What’s also been impressive about this great start for Tennessee is that they’ve been winning without a number of their regular rotation players, who have missed time due to various injuries. If you want to be one of the teams considered favorites in the odds to win the NCAA tournament, proving you can win while undermanned is key.

Here’s the wild thing about tomorrow in college hoops: there are five ranked vs. ranked matchups, and there’s basically great games ALL DAY. Tennessee/Arizona at 10:30 ET tomorrow night. Pumped to see Rick Barnes’ defense against a Zona offense powered with outstanding bigs.

— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) December 16, 2022

Coach Rick Barnes has indicated that Jonas Aidoo and Santiago Vescovi will both be available against Arizona on Saturday night. The status of of Josiah-Jordan James, who had an off-season knee procedure, is up in the air.

Vescovi is averaging 11.4 points and 5.3 rebounds, while the 6’11” Aidoo puts up 4.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. He is a key to their low-post defense, along with Olivier Nkamhoua. James has averaged 8.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per outing this season.

Arizona Wildcats Betting Outlook

A healthy Aidoo will be important for Tennessee as they’ll have to contend with containing the post duo of Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Bello, who are both contenders in the odds to win the college basketball player of the year.

Look at this kind of aggression and hustle by Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis:

– Recovers from losing the rebound with a block
– Sprints down the floor
– Commands the ball in the paint and draws a foul

Tubelis has grown a lot since March.

( 🎥 Via Fox) pic.twitter.com/CyYDWLhXaq

— Justin Spears (@JustinESports) December 11, 2022

The towering Arizona juniors rank first and third in the PAC-12 in scoring with Bello averaging 18.1 and Tubelis leading the conference with 20.2 points per game.

As good as Tennessee is defensively, the Wildcats may be even better on the offensive side of the ball. They rank first in Division I in adjusted offensive efficiency at 119.5 according to KenPom and play at a frantic pace with an adjusted tempo that ranks fourth in the nation.

2022-23 KenPom College Basketball Rankings

This Arizona squad has scored at least 81 points in nine of their 10 games this year, an incredible achievement for a college team. The only game in which they didn’t reach that total was in their only loss of the season, an 81-66 defeat to Utah on the first day of December.

Tennessee vs Arizona Pick & Prediction

This is the first time this season Tennessee find themselves as the underdogs in the college basketball odds.

While the defensive acumen of the Vols, is well-noted, they’ll be competing against a team that’s first in field goal percentage and scoring in the nation. This will also be the Volunteers first official road game of the season, as all other contests away from home have been neutral site games.

Tennessee has only allowed over 70 points once this year, but with one of their key big men just returning from injury, they may have some issues containing Arizona’s big men down low. This will be a close one where we expect offense to win over defense, so pick the over Saturday night in the Tennessee vs Arizona odds.

Pick: Over 148.5 Points (-110)