#743 ASA TOP PLAY ON 9* Vanderbilt +12.5 over Tennessee, Saturday at 6 PM ET - Vandy is playing their best basketball of the season right now and they are catching Tennessee in a tough spot. The Commodores have won 3 of their last 4 games with their only loss during that stretch coming by 7 points @ Kentucky. The Vols are coming off a huge road win @ Mississippi State in a game that was much closer than the final score which was 72-63. In that win the Vols never led by more than 5 until under 1:00 minute remaining in the game and outscored the Bulldogs 11-2 in the final 3:00 minutes. They played that game without one of their best players, Nkamhoua, who was lost for the season in their game prior to playing MSU. We think that’ll take a toll on UT as we move forward. Tennessee also hosts a huge game on Tuesday with Kentucky coming to town. Good chance they don’t play at their peak here vs a team they beat 68-60 on the road earlier this season. In that game, Vandy led at half and never trailed by more than 8 points. The Commodores match up nicely here as UT takes a lot of 3’s and Vanderbilt is #1 in the SEC defending the arc allowing just 27%. In the first game they held the Vols to just 22% from deep but Tennessee made 9 more FT’s which was the difference in the game. On the other side, almost 40% of Vandy’s points come from beyond the arc (1st in the league) and UT’s defensive weakness is defending the 3 ranking 11th in the SEC. The Dores have proven they can get it done on the road with 4 true road wins this season (including @ Arkansas who is 19-5 overall and 8-3 in the SEC). They actually shoot better on the road this season from both inside and outside the arc. We think they’ll give Tennessee a real scare in this one and we’ll grab double digits.