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Tennessee vs Missouri Prediction 2/5/25 College Basketball Picks Today

Missouri (17-4) vs. Tennessee (18-4)
February 5, 2025 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Tennessee -9; Over/Under:
(Get latest betting odds)

The Missouri Tigers and the Tennessee Volunteers meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Thompson-Boling Arena. Here’s a Tennessee vs Missouri prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Tennessee vs Missouri pick.

Missouri Tigers Betting Preview

The Tigers really only have one spotty three-game span in the books so far this year. Otherwise, they’ve only posted a couple of defeats amid a flurry of victories. Missouri lost to Memphis in their opener, then took out Howard, Eastern Washington, MS Valley State, Pacific, AR-Pine Bluff, Lindenwood, Cal, Kansas, Long Island U, and Jacksonville State in the next 10 games. The Tigers would fall to Illinois and Auburn in the next three (around a win over Alabama State), then beat LSU, Vanderbilt, Florida, and Arkansas. Following another loss to Texas, the Tigers beat Ole Miss and Mississippi State for a 17-4 overall record through the first 21 games.


In their Saturday matchup with Mississippi State, the Tigers came out of the locker room looking up at a 45-31 advantage. Missouri kept it going in the second half with a 43-30 run and took the eventual blowout road win 88-61 in the end. Caleb Grill came off the bench to lead the team with 20 points, two assists, and one rebound. Josh Gray had a double-double off the bench with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Tops among the starters in the victory was Tamar Bates, who notched 14 points with three rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes of work.

Tennessee Volunteers Betting Preview

Over on the Volunteers’ side, they kicked off the season with a flurry of victories. Tennessee has gone on a meandering .500 run since January 7, however. The Vols took out Gardner-Webb, Louisville, Montana, Austin Peay, Virginia, Baylor, TN-Martin, Syracuse, Miami, Illinois, Western Carolina, Middle Tennessee, Norfolk State, and Arkansas in their opening 14 outings. It’s been a 4-4 run since then with losses to Florida, Vanderbilt, Auburn, and Kentucky amid wins over Texas, Georgia, Mississippi State, and Florida. The result so far has been an 18-4 overall record through the first 22 games of the season for the Volunteers.

Matched up against Florida on Saturday, the Vols held a three-point edge going into the second half. Tennessee got much better from there on a 40-23 run and took the eventual victory 64-44 in the end. Tops in scoring was Chaz Lanier with 19 points and five rebounds, while Jordan Gainey added 16 points with four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Felix Okpara also finished in double-figures with 10 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks. All of the team’s bench points (seven) came from Cade Phillips alongside three rebounds in 28 minutes.

Why the Tennessee Volunteers will win

  • Tennessee has won each of its last 27 Wednesday games at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
  • Missouri has lost 15 of its last 17 night games against the Southeastern Conference.
  • The home team has won the first half in each of Tennessee’s last five games.

Why the Missouri Tigers will win

  • Missouri has won 10 of its last 11 night games.
  • Tennessee has lost each of its last three games following a home win.
  • Missouri has won the first half in six of its last seven games against the Southeastern Conference.

Tennessee vs Missouri Prediction

I’ll just stay with Tennessee here. The Volunteers are coming off a very effective game (at least defensively) against the Gators. Tennessee held Florida to just 24.5 percent shooting from the field and 14.8 percent (4-of-27) from 3-point range. the 40-37 rebounding advantage was nice, as were the nine points off 13 Florida turnovers. The Volunteers have been a mixed bag as far as scoring—and winning—lately. They’ve been below 69 points in three of the last four games (a 2-2 run) but generally, they’re still playing pretty good defense.

As for Missouri, they’re coming off a very impressive road win over Mississippi State this past weekend. The Tigers shot an excellent 55 percent from the field in that one while holding the Bulldogs to just 36.4 percent on the other side. Missouri is cooking during this 6-1 stretch, posting 75 or more points in each win during that time. Generally, the Tigers are keeping other teams in check on the scoreboard as well. This matchup could go a lot of different ways, but in the end, I like the Vols to eke one out at home. It’ll be one of the highlights of the Wednesday schedule.

Andrew's Free Pick: Tennessee Volunteers -9

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Andrew

Andrew has been writing about college, professional and fantasy sports betting since 2013. Andrew's goal is to break down the complicated numbers and trends into a language that's easily accessible to novice sports bettors and seasoned professionals alike.

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