Game Preview: Wyoming Cowboys vs Tennessee Volunteers

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2009

Wyoming Cowboys (5-4) v #9 Tennessee Volunteers (7-1)

The No.9 Tennessee Volunteers will tip off at Thompson-Boling Arena against the Wyoming Cowboys on Tuesday night. The game will be televised on ESPN U.

These two teams have met just two times, both in 1958 with Tennessee winning both games. The first on Dec. 2, 1958 and then again four days later in the Midwestern Invitational. The Vols won that meeting 90-69.

The Eastern Division title champion Vols are coming off their third consecutive win 75-54 over Middle Tennessee State, on Friday. Senior guard J.P Prince led Tennessee with a season-high 17 points, while Bobby Maze added 12 points in the win. The Vols shot 50 percent (27-of-54) for the game. The teams leading scorer Scotty Hopson was held to just a single point, well under his 15.7 average coming in. The Volunteers is eighth in the nation in scoring and is the highest-scoring team in the SEC at 85 points per game.

Afam Muojeke scored 15 points leading Wyoming to a 76-70 win over Northern Colorado on Saturday. The win extended the Cowboys current win streak to three. Muojeke is averaging a team-high 16.7 points per game. Adam Waddell contributed 13 points in the win. Wyoming has not faced a SEC opponent since beating South Carolina 77-63 on Dec. 19, 2002. The Cowboys haven’t faced a Top 10 team since losing 83-69 to No. 10 Wichita State on Dec. 10, 2006. The Cowboys rank 31^st in the nation in scoring and second in the Mountain West with 80.3 points per game.

The odds makers have Tennessee at –22 ½-point favorites with a game total of 155.

Tennessee will need to keep fouls to a minimum avoiding sending the Cowboys to the charity stripe as much as possible. Wyoming currently leads the nation in made free throws (234) and rank third in attempted free throws (316).

Look for Tennessee to pull off a win here by 11.

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