Gamecocks take on Volunteers in SEC action

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/06/2010 - Knoxville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 14th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers will have the Knoxville faithful on their side tonight as they play host to the South Carolina Gamecocks in SEC action.

Back on January 26th, South Carolina carried a three-game losing streak into a showdown with unbeaten Kentucky, so the fact that the Gamecocks were able to score an upset of the Wildcats was certainly surprising. They won a second straight game last weekend over Georgia by a 78-77 final and have been idle since that affair. South Carolina is 13-8 overall, including 4-3 in conference, and the hope tonight is that the club can improve a 1-5 record in true road games.

As for Tennessee, it has recorded back-to-back wins to improve to 17-4 overall and remain in contention for the SEC crown with a 5-2 league record. On Thursday, the Vols got the job done at the defensive end in a 59-54 victory over LSU. Tennessee has reason for confidence this evening, as the squad is 11-1 at home thus far.

Tennessee owns a 31-23 series advantage over South Carolina, and the teams will meet again in two weeks.

There aren't many players nationally that mean as much to their respective teams as Devan Downey does to South Carolina. He has been the squad's leading scorer in 10 consecutive outings and is averaging 22.9 ppg to go along with 3.6 apg and 64 steals. Brandis Raley-Ross has emerged as a solid second scoring option for the Gamecocks, but his 10.2 ppg won't scare any opponents. Through 21 outings, USC is generating 74.7 ppg while allowing 69.0 ppg. Downey exploded for 33 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the floor in the victory over Georgia last time out. Sam Muldrow added 19 points and 11 boards for the Gamecocks, who shot 51.8 percent form the floor, including 9-of-17 from three- point range. It certainly helped the cause that they only turned the ball over nine times.

Tennessee is scoring 76.9 ppg this season while allowing 64.4 ppg to opponents on 39.2 percent shooting from the field. The Vols are led by Scotty Hopson's 13.3 ppg, and Wayne Chism is close behind with 12.2 ppg to go along with his 7.1 rpg and 30 blocks. Those two players are the only active double-digit scorers on the Tennessee roster. Chism was outstanding against LSU on Thursday, as he shot 9-of-15 from the field and finished with 20 points. The Vols shot only 30 percent from the floor in the first half, but 52 percent efficiency over the final 20 minutes enabled the club to seal the win. Defensively, the Vols held the Tigers to 30.5 percent shooting, including 5- of-23 from three-point range.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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