Tennessee vs LSU Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for January 21 (Tigers Can't Solve Pesky Volunteers Defense)

Tennessee vs LSU Game Info

• 2022-23 NCAA Basketball Regular Season Game
• No. 9 Tennessee (15-3, 5-1 SEC) vs. LSU (12-6, 1-5 SEC)
• Date: Saturday, January 21, 2023
• Time: 4:00 PM ET
• Venue: Pete Maravich Assembly Center -- Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Saturday, Jan. 21's NCAA college basketball schedule features an exciting SEC showdown between the No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers and LSU Tigers.

Tennessee has been one of the SEC's hotter teams lately, improving to 6-1 in its last seven games with Tuesday's 70-59 win over Mississippi State. Meanwhile, wins have eluded LSU ever since the calendar flipped to 2023. The Tigers fell 67-49 to ranked Auburn three nights ago, marking the former's fifth consecutive loss.

Can Tennessee continue its impressive run on the road? Or will LSU break out of its slump with a massive upset win?

Tennessee vs LSU Odds & Spread

• All college basketball betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: TENN: (-650) | LSU: (+460)
• Spread: TENN: -10.5 (-115) | LSU: +10.5 (-105)
• Total: 130.5 -- Over: (-115) | Under: (-105)

Tennessee enters this contest as the clear road favorite on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 4 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 130.5 points with the over favored at -115 odds.

Tennessee vs LSU Betting Trends

• Tennessee is 10-8-0 against the spread this season.
• Against the spread as 10.5-point favorites or more, the Volunteers are 6-4.
• Tennessee has seen seven of its 18 games hit the over.
• Against the spread, LSU is 7-11-0 this season.
• The Tigers have won once ATS (1-1) as a 10.5-point underdog or more this year.
• LSU has played 18 games this year, and six of them have gone over the total.

Tennessee Rank	Tennessee AVG		LSU AVG	LSU Rank
139th	74.1	Points Scored	68.6	257th
2nd	54.3	Points Allowed	67.1	118th
10th	37.1	Rebounds	31.3	230th
10th	12.2	Off. Rebounds	8.7	190th
124th	8	3pt Made	7.4	185th
9th	17.6	Assists	13.1	200th
255th	13.1	Turnovers	12.1	161st

Tennessee vs LSU Prediction & Pick

LSU has shown next to zero signs of life amid its five-game slide. The Tigers have been outscored by an average of 17 points over that stretch while failing to surpass 56 points in three of their last four outings. On top of that, they've also lost five of their six SEC matchups so far this season.

Meanwhile, Tennessee has won three straight road games, holding those opponents to a 53.3 PPG clip. I don't expect that high level of defense to change, especially with LSU only shooting 30.3% from the field over its last three games. The Tigers are going to miss a lot of shots and the Volunteers, who average 39.6 rebounds (No. 13) will take advantage of that inaccuracy.

Unless LSU does a complete 180° turnaround and looks like a completely different team, Tennessee shouldn't have many issues with its SEC foe.

Final Score Prediction: Tennessee: 77 | LSU: 62

Tennessee vs LSU Best Bet

I like Tennessee's chances of heading into halftime with a decent lead. The Volunteers often get off to strong starts due to their stellar defense, averaging a plus-9.9 scoring margin while holding opponents to 25.2 PPG in the first half, both ranking third-best in the nation.

While LSU is tied for the 99th-best first-half scoring margin (plus-2.3), the Tigers have trailed by an average of 15 points at halftime over their last three games. In other words, look for Tennessee to put this game out of reach early on.

Bet: First-Half Spread — Tennessee -5.5 (-118)

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.