The Tennessee Volunteers and the Butler Bulldogs meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Imperial Arena. Tennessee is sitting at 2-1 overall and coming off a win over Florida Gulf Coast. Butler enters this one at 3-1 following their win over the Citadel back on Saturday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Tennessee only has three games in the bag so far, with mixed results. The Volunteers took a 75-43 blowout win over Tennessee Tech in their opener. Game two was a rough one, however. The Volunteers lost 78-66 to Colorado.
Tennessee managed to bounce back with a victory over Florida Gulf Coast last week. The Volunteers were up by 17 points going into the second half and won the game 81-50. Tops in scoring were Olivier Nkamhoua and Josiah-Jordan James with 18 points apiece.
Over on the Bulldogs’ side, they didn’t have any problems with New Orleans in their opener during an 89-53 blowout win. Game two was a rough loss to Penn State 68-62, but Butler came back for a 95-67 win over St. Francis PA.
In the Saturday matchup versus the Citadel, Butler drilled the opposition 53-22 in the first half. The Bulldogs would cruise to an 89-42 win after a 36-20 run in the second. Both Simas Lukosius and Jayden Taylor put up 18 points each.
PICK: I’m probably sticking with Tennessee but not touching this one. The Volunteers have been off the floor for an entire week, but shouldn’t have too many issues with Butler if they play to their capabilities. Tennessee shot a nice 49 percent from the floor with a 41-27 rebounding edge versus Florida Gulf Coast in their last game. It was a solid bounce-back from the unexpected loss to Colorado. As for Butler, they shot pretty great in the Citadel game (55 percent) and notched 42 rebounds. It’s going to be much harder finding room against Tennessee, though.