Tennessee Volunteers at Pittsburgh Panthers

Betting Odds

Point Spread: Pittsburgh Panthers(-8)
Game Total Line: (141.5)
(wagering lines available at 5Dimes)

The marquee matchup in college basketball this Saturday pits the No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers against the No. 3 Pittsburgh Panthers in the 2010 DIRECTV SEC/Big East Invitational at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. Tip-off is set for 3:15 p.m.

Tennessee has to be thrilled with its start this season considering all the controversy surrounding its head coach Bruce Pearl. The Volunteers have won their first six games including a shocking 78-68 win over then-No.7 Villanova as a six-point underdog in the NIT Tip-Off championship game. Junior guard Scotty Hopson led the Vols with 18 points and senior guard Melvin Goins scored seven of his nine points late in the second half to seal the win over the Wildcats.

Last time out Tennessee rolled over Middle Tennessee 86-56 as a 16.5 point home favorite to run its record to 6-0 straight-up and 4-2 against the spread. The total has gone ‘over’ in four of the five games it has played with a posted line. The Volunteers rolled up a 23 point lead at the half over the Blue Raiders and cruised in the second half to a 30-point win. Freshman forward Toby Harris scored a game-high 21 points and Hopson added another 19 in the win.

Harris and Hopson have led the way for Tennessee through the first six games with each player averaging over 16 points a game. Senior center Brian Williams leads the team in rebounds with eight per game and Goins is averaging three assists. As a team, the Vols are averaging 78 points a game and shooting 45.2 percent from the field.

Pittsburgh has also made an early statement that it is the team to beat this year in the Big East by firing off 10 straight wins including a 79-70 win over Maryland as a 7.5 point favorite and a 68-66 win over Texas as a five-point favorite to win this year’s 2K Sports Classic. The Panthers are 10-0 SU but just 3-4 ATS in the seven games that had a posted line. The total has gone ‘over’ in five of these seven games.

They kicked off the month of December with an 80-66 win over their city rival Duquesne as an 11-point favorite. Junior guard Ashton Gibbs led all scorers with 22 points and the Panthers outrebounded the Dukes 56-35 to further cement their reputation as one of the best rebounding teams in the nation. They followed this game up with an 87-68 win over Rider as a 19.5 point favorite and a 70-42 win over Delaware State which had no posted line.

Gibbs leads Pitt in scoring with 17.4 points per game. Sophomore forward Dante Taylor leads the team in rebounds with six per game, but there are three other players averaging around five boards per game. The Panther have a field goal percentage of 48.7 percent and are averaging 82 points per game.

Tennessee will be playing its first true road game as its only two games away from home so far this season where played at a neutral site. Pittsburgh is 1-3 ATS at home this year and the total has gone ‘over’ in all four games. There is no recent history between these two teams as the last time they played one another was in 1999.

ATS Game Pick

This should be a stern test for the Panthers but they should be able to dominate the Vols in the paint to pound out their 11th straight win. The Linesmaker at Bodog has this game at Pitt -8 which we find to be a little high, so we'll trwad easy here and play only half a unit on the Panthers.
Take Pittsburgh -8 at Sportsbook.com.