Ole Miss Rebels vs Tennessee Volunteers Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 03/09/2023

Game Time: 3:30 pm ET, Thursday, March 9, 2023

Venue:  Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN

Where to Watch:  SEC Networks

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Ole Miss +11, Tennessee -11; Over/Under:  128.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Ole Miss +11, Tennessee -11; Over/Under:  128.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Ole Miss +11, Tennessee -11; Over/Under:  128.5 points

Ole Miss Rebels:  12-20 (3-15) (13th place, SEC)

Tennessee Volunteers:  22-9 (11-7) (5th place, SEC)

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Ole Miss Rebels:  2-3  last 5

Tennessee Volunteers:  2-3  last 5

Ole Miss is coming into this game with a 12-20 record overall and they are 3-1 in their neutral site games this season where they will be in this game. They are also 3-15 in their conference games this season as well. They are entering this game off of a win against the South Carolina Gamecocks in their last game. Amaree Abram led the team in points in that game with 20 while Jaemyn Brakefield was next on the team with 16 points. Myles Burns led the team in assists in that game with 4 while James White led the team in rebounds with 10. They were 42.4% from the field, 40.9% from 3-point range, and 61.5% from the free throw line with their shooting in that game. Their offense is averaging 67.9 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 69.3 PPG against them. Ole Miss has an ATS record of 11-19-2 this season and their O/U record is 17-15.

Tennessee is coming into this game with a 22-9 record overall and they are 4-1 in their neutral site games this season where they will be in this game. They are also 11-7 in their conference schedule this season as well. They are entering this game off of a loss against the Auburn Tigers in their last game. Santiago Vescovi led the team in points in that game with 21 while Tyreke Key was next on the team with 13 points. Santiago Vescovi led the team in assists in that game with 4 while Tobe Awaka led the team in rebounds with 10. They were 47.2% from the field, 47.1% from 3-point range, and 63.2% from the free throw line with their shooting in that game. Their offense is averaging 71.9 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 57.5 PPG against them. Tennessee has an ATS record of 16-15 this season and their O/U record is 12-18-1.

The current betting odds have Tennessee listed as an 11 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Tennessee enters this game as the higher seed in the SEC Tournament and they had a much better year as they are also a ranked team. They finished with a 22-9 record overall and were only 11-7 in their conference games, but they were really good on neutral sites going 4-1 in those games this season. Ole Miss was a much worse team this season with their 12-20 record overall and they also struggled a lot more in the SEC with a 3-15 conference record making them one of the worst teams in the SEC this season. They did pull off a big win in the 1st round of this tournament but they also struggled to pull away from South Carolina for a lot of that game and will now be on a back-to-back and tired here while Tennessee is nice and rested for this game. Tennessee is not only playing to win this tournament but they were also falling down the standings towards the end of the season and they will be out to prove themselves as one of the best teams in the country again. The best way to place a bet here is on Tennessee to cover the spread in this game.

Ole Miss Tennessee Prediction:  Our NCAAB Pick for Thursday, March 9, 2023 (3:30 pm ET start time) is Tennessee 82 Ole Miss 66.

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Ole Miss Rebels: 14-4 ATS off a road loss. 13-4 ATS off a road loss against a conference rival. 31-19 OVER in a neutral court game where the total is 130 to 139.5.

Tennessee Volunteers: 5-11 ATS in all neutral court games. 3-11 ATS after scoring 75 points or more 2 straight games. 9-1 OVER as a neutral court underdog of 3.5 to 6 points.

Ole Miss Rebels:  D. Ruffin (G) Out indefinitely - Personal. M. Ewin (F) Out indefinitely - Personal.

Tennessee Volunteers:  Z. Zeigler (G) out for season - Knee. D. Jefferson (G) out for season - Redshirt.

"I told them after the ball game that I'm so proud of them. Now, it's a totally new season, getting ready for the SEC Tournament. We're excited to go up to Nashville and let the chips fall where they may." - Win Case on his team coming into the SEC Tournament.

“It wasn’t point guard play, it was our defense. We were not good. That was really the most disappointing thing. From our perspective, 16 points that were just so uncharacteristic— not to take anything away from Auburn, but we were just not where we needed to be defensively and obviously it showed up on the court, especially in the second half. Overall, I thought we put a lot on Santi. For him to play 39 minutes and normally guarding the other team’s best player, best perimeter player and trying to get it going, we need to help him. There’s no doubt he needs to get some help there but offensively the guys disposition was good. We need more consistency out of our front line, obviously but overall the major disappointment was our defense.” - Rick Barnes after his team’s loss against Auburn in their final game of the regular season.

A. Abram 

J. Brakefield 

M. Burns 

J. McKinnis 

M. Murrell

T. Key 

O. Nkamhoua 

J. Phillips 

U. Plavsic 

S. Vescovi

PPG: M. Murrell (14.9)

APG: D. Ruffin (3.2)

Reb/G: M. Burns (6.1)

PPG: S. Vescovi (12.7)

APG: Z. Zeigler (5.4)

Reb/G: O. Nkamhoua (5)

Coaches:

Ole Miss Rebels: Win Case (Interim)

Tennessee Volunteers: Rick Barnes (8th season)