Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles vs Indiana Hoosiers Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 2

Tennessee Tech has scored 97 points or more in back to back games as it walks into Assembly Hall. Indiana is 3-0, though Syracuse just took the Hoosiers to the final minute in Indianapolis.

The Matchup

Tennessee Tech visits Indiana on Thursday evening at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, with Indiana a 25.5-point favorite, a total of 165.5, on BTN. Assembly Hall is one of the hardest road environments in the sport, and the spread prices that in fully. The question is whether it also prices in how well the visitors are shooting.

Indiana is 3-0, scoring 88.7 points a game and allowing 68.7. The Hoosiers handled Eastern Illinois 91-57 and Bellarmine 92-69 at home, then got a genuine test from Syracuse in Indianapolis and won 83-80. Markus Burton scored 20 points in that game, Darren Harris scored 20 more, and Jaeden Mustaf added 18 points and 7 rebounds, while Samet Yigitoglu pulled down 10 rebounds inside. Last season Indiana went 18-14 in the Big Ten, scoring 78.2 and allowing 72.2, and this start looks like a deeper, more balanced version of that team.

Tennessee Tech is 2-1, scoring 100.7 points a game and allowing 90.0. Read that scoring average with its schedule in mind. The Golden Eagles put 117 on lower division Blue Mountain Christian, scored 88 in a loss at Mississippi State, and then beat Western Kentucky 97-94 at home.

Last season Tennessee Tech went 13-18, scoring 73.3 and allowing 74.5, so nobody should expect this pace to hold all winter. What is real is the shooting on this roster right now, because the Western Kentucky win came against a peer program and the shots were falling from everywhere.

Cbo Newton, Trent Mosquera and Caleb Sanders carry no injury designations for Tennessee Tech, and Burton, Harris and Mustaf carry no injury designations for Indiana.

Key Factors

Tennessee Tech's case starts behind the arc. Against Western Kentucky, Newton scored 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting and hit 6 of 7 three-pointers. Mosquera scored 17 and hit 5 of 7 from deep. Caleb Hollenbeck came off the bench to score 14 on 4-of-6 shooting from three, and Kamai Samuels added 15 points with 4 assists. When that many shooters are warm at once, a defense has to guard 25 feet from the basket for 40 minutes, and blowouts get hard to build because the underdog keeps answering in threes.

Indiana's edge is size and depth, and it shows up in the defensive number that matters here. The Hoosiers have allowed 68.7 points a game, and Yigitoglu gives them a true interior anchor at 10 rebounds against Syracuse. Tennessee Tech has allowed 90.0 points a game and gave up 106 at Mississippi State, so Indiana will get its points, likely in the high 80s or more. The spread, though, asks Indiana to win by 26, and Tennessee Tech only needs its shooting to keep the game in the teens rather than win it.

The counterpoint is the building and the step up in class. Assembly Hall has buried better visiting teams than this one, Tennessee Tech's defense has not stopped anyone yet, and if Indiana's pressure turns the Golden Eagles over early, the crowd feeds on it and 25.5 disappears by halftime.

Syracuse also just showed the Hoosiers can be played close, but Syracuse is not Tennessee Tech. The bet is narrower than an upset call. It is that a team shooting this well, with four scorers in rhythm, does not lose by four touchdowns worth of points even in Bloomington.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.