Vols open SEC Tournament against hapless Tigers

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/11/2010 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers are set to take on the LSU Tigers in the first round of the 2010 SEC Tournament.

The winner of this contest will move on to face Ole Miss, the West Division's second seed, in Friday's quarterfinal round.

LSU, 11-19 overall, is the sixth seed from the West Division, and it captured its lone SEC crown back in 1980. The Tigers finished 2-14 versus league foes during the regular season, but the team did close out the campaign with a victory and may enter this tournament with some confidence.

The Vols have won the SEC Tournament four times, but it has been 31 years since their last title. Last season, Tennessee reached the title game, only to fall to Mississippi State by a 64-61 final. The 2009-10 Vols are 23-7 overall, and they closed the regular season with three consecutive wins.

Tennessee and LSU played just once during the regular season, and the Vols escaped Baton Rouge with a five-point win. In regard to the all-time series, Tennessee owns a 57-42 advantage.

The Tigers lack depth and are the lowest-scoring team in the SEC (61.9 ppg) despite boasting two of the league's top 13 scorers, including Tasmin Mitchell (17.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg). Bo Spencer provides 14.9 ppg, and he leads the team with 79 assists. Unfortunately, Spencer is shooting a woeful 33.9 percent from the field. Storm Warren is the third and final double-digit scorer on the roster with 11.6 ppg, and he is grabbing 7.2 rpg to complement a team-high 43 blocks. Unfortunately, no other player on the team is netting more than 4.6 ppg, so the trio mentioned is responsible for almost all of the Tigers' 61.9 ppg. LSU managed to beat Georgia in the regular-season finale despite shooting just 31 percent from the floor.

Tennessee owns the second-best scoring margin in the SEC (+9.8 ppg), surprising considering the fact that it doesn't possess a single player ranked in the top 20 in the league in scoring. Scotty Hopson paces the squad with 13.1 ppg, and Wayne Chism checks in with 12.4 ppg and 6.8 rpg. Chism has also blocked 44 shots, but he has been inconsistent this season, choosing to play a role rather than use his unique skill set to dominate games. The Vols are the top team in the conference when it comes to defending the three-point shot. They are limiting opponents to 65.2 ppg while generating 75.0 ppg at the offensive end. In a 16-point victory over Mississippi State to close out the regular season, the Vols shot 50 percent from the floor, had five double-digit scorers and held the Bulldogs to 33.9 percent shooting.

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