NCAAB Odds, Pick for LSU vs Tennessee

The Tennessee Volunteers are now ranked sixth nationally after losing a home game against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

While they bounced back against Kentucky over the weekend, the Vols now head back to Knoxville for their first home game since losing stunningly.

Here's NCAAB odds and a pick for LSU vs. Tennessee.

Before beating Arkansas on Saturday, LSU lost three straight conference games. Frankly, the Tigers just needed a win to boost their confidence heading into a road contest against a nationally top-10-ranked team.

A fair share of unfortunate luck has recently stepped in LSU's direction, as it lost a pair of games by six total points against Texas A&M and Georgia. Eventually, the narrow losses will flip and turn into wins.

The Tigers' offense is much better since Jalen Cook entered the fold 11 games ago. As a second-time transfer, Cook sat out until the NCAA allowed all multi-time transfers to play right away while court proceedings commenced.

Cook and sharp-shooting wing Jordan Wright account for 31 points of LSU's 77.5 per game. The two transfers dictate much of LSU's offense success, and both will need to bring their scoring A-game on the road. Cook shoots only 33% from 3, while Wright provides a little more shooting consistency at 36%.

As of now, LSU has played three conference road games, losing all three, two of which came by 15+ against Auburn and Alabama. LSU faces its third-ranked matchup against an SEC opponent, and Matt McMahon hopes for a more favorable outcome.

Additionally, LSU thrives on the defensive end, using an aggressive style of play to its advantage. The Tigers force turnovers on 19.9% of defensive possessions (47th nationally), which plays a part in the team's 67th-ranked defense, per KenPom.

Once the Tigers force a turnover, it leads to transition offense, and that's where McMahon's team wants to operate.

Tennessee beat the brakes off of Kentucky in Lexington the other night, winning 102-93. The Vols scored over 1.39 points per possession, connecting on 54% of their 2-point shots and 40% of their 3s.

Tennessee put on a total offensive masterpiece, something that hasn't happened regularly in the past five seasons under Rick Barnes. In the past, it was defense or bust, but now it's a steady diet of offensive success and elite defensive play.

The most impressive element of Tennessee's 103-point outburst is that 87 of the 103 points came from players other than Dalton Knecht. Countless times this year, Knecht has shown his scoring dominance while other Tennessee players struggled.

Zakai Zeigler scored 26 points in the win over Kentucky, while tossing in 13 assists. Super-senior Josiah-Jordan James also scored a career-best 26 points in the win.

While you shouldn't expect 26 points a night from James or Zeigler, it's encouraging that others stepped up in a relatively slow night for Knecht. We saw that Tennessee's offense isn't reliant on just one player, but before Saturday, I don't know if that was a statement we could make.

Unsurprisingly, Tennessee's defense is incredible. It ranks second in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency, vaulted by a 44% effective field goal percentage (4th). Those numbers bode well for slowing down an inconsistent, yet capable LSU offense.

While both teams will push the tempo, both also focus on the defensive end.

Raising the total to over 150 feels like a reaction to Tennessee's drubbing of Kentucky, and that's quite possibly the worst defense in the SEC right now.

I can't see LSU scoring consistently against the stingy Vols' defense.

That leads me in the direction of the under.

Pick: Under 151.5