After Jordan Gainey’s spectacular game-winner on the road versus the Illinois Fighting Illini, Tennessee basketball heads back to Rocky Top to face the Western Carolina Catamounts. Read more for a full Tennessee vs Western Carolina prediction and preview.
The No. 1 Tennessee men’s basketball team will play Western Carolina at Food City Center on Tuesday night in an attempt to build on its fifth 10-0 start to a season in program history.
General Information:
Teams: Tennessee (10-0) and Western Carolina (3-6)
Tip-Off: 7 p.m. EST
Watch: SEC Network+
Latest on Western Carolina basketball:
WCU has been well-tested to begin the 2024-25 season, the first under veteran head coach Tim Craft. They have lost six of nine games and are heading into another unfavorable matchup Tuesday night.
WCU only has two players who average double digits: guards Ice Emery and Cord Stansberry, who average 12.0 and 11.2 points per game. Forward Bernard Pelote assists them with 9.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest.
The Catamounts struggle to make shots as they only hit their attempts on a 43/31/68 split. The team’s average of 39.9 rebounds per game leads the SoCon.
Coach Craft and his squad will use this game as a test to see what to improve on before heading into conference play.
Latest on Tennessee basketball:
Tennessee basketball enters this game among just five undefeated Division I schools, three of which are in the SEC.
In the Vols’ most recent game, which was its first non-conference road game as the top-ranked team in the country, they showed resilience by defeating Illinois 66-64 on Saturday night in front of 15,544 spectators at State Farm Arena. In addition to making a game-winning layup to seal the win, senior guard Jordan Gainey scored a game-high 23 points, the most he has scored in two seasons as a Volunteer, to lead Tennessee basketball. He scored 18 of his points in the last 14 minutes.
Tennessee basketball now has four players who average upwards of 11.5 points per game: Chaz Lanier, Igor Milicic Jr., Zakai Zeigler, and now Jordan Gainey.
The Vols will look to handle business in a favorable matchup in their 11th game of the season.
The Volunteers’ seven victories over Western Carolina are by an average of 24.1 ppg.
Tennessee vs Western Carolina prediction: Vols by 35 (78-42)
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