Tennessee and South Florida square off in first round of NCAA Tournament

South Florida Bulls (23-10, 16-4 AAC) vs. Tennessee Volunteers (22-9, 9-9 SEC)

Columbus, Ohio; Friday, 8 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Volunteers -19.5; over/under is 146.5

BOTTOM LINE: No. 20 Tennessee and South Florida square off in the NCAA Tournament opening round.

The Volunteers are 9-9 against SEC opponents and 13-0 in non-conference play. Tennessee is fourth in college basketball with 40.7 points in the paint led by Talaysia Cooper averaging 9.4.

The Bulls are 16-4 against AAC opponents. South Florida ranks eighth in the AAC with 22.7 defensive rebounds per game led by Carla Brito averaging 5.3.

Tennessee makes 43.8% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.2 percentage points higher than South Florida has allowed to its opponents (40.6%). South Florida averages 66.0 points per game, 4.4 fewer than the 70.4 Tennessee allows to opponents.

TOP PERFORMERS: Cooper is averaging 16.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.1 steals for the Volunteers. Jewel Spear is averaging 15 points over the past 10 games.

Sammie Puisis is scoring 14.8 points per game with 3.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists for the Bulls. Brito is averaging 12.6 points and 9.7 rebounds while shooting 42.0% over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Volunteers: 6-4, averaging 79.0 points, 34.8 rebounds, 13.9 assists, 8.3 steals and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 43.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.3 points per game.

Bulls: 8-2, averaging 68.1 points, 35.8 rebounds, 14.5 assists, 7.8 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 40.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 61.9 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.