Scouting report, score prediction: Vanderbilt men's basketball vs. Tennessee

Vanderbilt men's basketball faces its first rivalry game of the season when the Commodores host Tennessee.

The Vols (11-5, 2-3 SEC) have spent much of the season in the bottom half of the Top 25 rankings behind top scorers Santiago Vescovi and Kennedy Chandler and defensive stalwart John Fulkerson.

Here's what to know about the matchup Tuesday (8 p.m., SEC Network) at Memorial Gymnasium:

Defensive struggles

This game isn't likely to have a lot of scoring. Both Tennessee and Vanderbilt (10-6, 2-2) have defenses that have far outpaced their offenses so far. The difference is that the Vols' defense has been elite, ranked fifth in the country on KenPom. Tennessee focuses on allowing more 3-pointers in order to take away the two. The Vols' opponents make an above-average percentage of their triples but struggle around the rim due to Tennessee's propensity to block shots and force turnovers.

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Vanderbilt's defense, ranked No. 50 on KenPom, also thrives off forcing turnovers, but unlike the Vols, the Commodores are more adept at limiting teams beyond the arc and merely average within it.

Offensively, Tennessee is good within the arc, both at scoring and offensive rebounding. The Vols typically avoid turnovers. However, they're not a very good shooting team and they don't draw a lot of fouls — and when they do, they're one of the worst teams in the country at making free throws.

Both teams like to attempt a lot of 3-point shots but don't tend to make a lot of them. That could lead to a lot of bricks.

A tough schedule

Tennessee has already played a lot of ranked opponents, beating Arizona and losing to Villanova, Texas Tech, Alabama, LSU and Kentucky.

The Vols haven't quite stacked up to their top-ranked opponents but they've managed to avoid any bad losses. Tennessee has not yet lost to an unranked opponent.

Different momentum

Both the Vols and Commodores last played on Saturday, but the games went very differently.

Tennessee was run off the floor at Rupp Arena, 107-79. Vanderbilt rebounded from a loss to the same Kentucky team by beating Georgia, 73-66. Of course, the Wildcats are one of the best teams in the SEC and the Bulldogs are one of the worst, but the Commodores will need to avoid a letdown while the Vols will need to put Saturday behind them.

Prediction

Tennessee 62, Vanderbilt 50: Both teams will struggle to score here, but Vanderbilt's struggles have been much more pronounced, which will lead to a Vols victory.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt men's basketball vs. Tennessee scouting report, prediction