The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns and the Tennessee Volunteers meet Thursday in NCAA Tournament First Round college basketball action from Amway Center. Louisiana is currently 26-7 on the year. The Cajuns beat South Alabama in Sun Belt tournament action last Monday. As for Tennessee, they’re sitting at 23-10 this season after a loss to Missouri in the SEC Tournament on Friday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
Louisiana posted a 23-7 record over the regular season, closing out with consecutive wins over Arkansas State and South Alabama. The Cajuns would then beat Georgia Southern 67-49 and Texas State 64-58 in the first two games of the Sun Belt Tournament.
Last Monday versus South Alabama, the Cajuns faced a 37-33 deficit going into the second half. Louisiana rallied on a 38-29 run from there and got the comeback win 71-66. Themus Fulks posted 23 points and Jordan Brown doubled on 13 points and 16 rebounds.
Tennessee Volunteers
Over on the Tennessee side, they were 22-9 by the end of the regular season. The Vols closed things out with a 79-70 loss to Auburn. In the first game of the SEC Tournament, Tennessee handled Ole Miss 70-55 to move on.
Matched up against Missouri last Friday, the Volunteers held a slim 33-30 edge by halftime. Tennessee was outscored 49-38 in the second and lost 79-71. Santiago Vescovi topped the team with 17 points and three rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stick with Tennessee here. The Volunteers had a rough second half in the Missouri game, but ended up shooting a pretty solid 44.6 percent from the field with a 33-28 rebounding advantage. Trouble is, Tennessee also gave up 52.6 percent shooting and had 14 turnovers. As for Louisiana, they managed a strong effort in the Sun Belt Tournament and have now won five straight games. The Cajuns are capable of scoring well themselves and I like them to hang around for a while here. In the end however I think Tennessee will take control and cover.