Tennessee Basketball is That Good
No. 1 Tennessee Basketball (23-1, 10-0) takes on No. 5 Kentucky on Saturday in Rupp Arena. The game may be in Lexington, but that shouldn’t intimidate the Volunteers at all.
Tennessee’s win streak is now at 19 games. The Volunteers are still the top-ranked team in the country, and they continue to shut down opponents.
Kentucky may have the recent success, and a lot of people know that playing in Rupp Arena is pretty intimidating. However, that environment isn’t going to phase Tennessee.
The Volunteers have a ‘swag’ to them. They’re aggressive and gritty, know how to put up points and get better every game.
In their last game, Tennessee took down South Carolina for the second time this season. The Volunteers beat the Gamecocks on Jan. 29 92-70 then on Feb. 13 won 85-73.
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However, unlike the first time when Grant Williams scored 23 points and brought down nine rebounds, the junior only scored eight points.
He made 4-of-8 shots, but the Gamecock defense did a good job covering him.
Despite shutting down Williams, Tennessee found other players to score points.
Five players scored at least 10 points in the game on Wednesday.
Admiral Schofield led the way with 21 points, ten rebounds and made two of four three-pointers. Tennessee showed that even if a team shuts down their veteran leader, they’re not a one trick pony.
In SEC games this season, Tennessee has five players averaging at least 11 points. Williams leads the way with 18.7 points in SEC games.
Behind him is Jordan Bowden and Schofield who both average 15.4. Jordan Bone averages 12.4, and Lamonte Turner averages 11.1.
Tennessee averages 85.4 points per game and only allow opponents to score 67.5. The Volunteers win on average by 17.9 points. However, that isn’t an impressive statistic, Tennessee’s average assists per game are though.
The Volunteers average 20 assists per game. Opponents average 12.4 assists.
Head coach Rick Barnes makes sure to emphasize that, and the team’s passes are so technical.
Tennesee is also good at scoring points off of turnovers. The Volunteers average 17.6 points off of turnovers while allowing opponents to score just 10.5.
There isn’t much this Volunteer team cannot do. They play good defense, score points, and have a winning mentality.
When I first started covering SEC Basketball in the middle of the season, my biggest question was if Tennessee is this good?
Yes, the Volunteers are that good, if not one of the most complete teams in the country. They have the offense and defense to win a championship.
Kentucky and LSU could be the only two teams that stand in the way of a top-seed in the SEC and NCAA tournaments.
Tennessee has an excellent opportunity to take it all the way. The Volunteers don’t have any final-four appearances and have a 19-21 record in the NCAA Tournament.
This team can take it all the way and win its first basketball championship if they continue playing this way.
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For now, they are the best team in the country, and unless they have a complete meltdown, they will finish as one of the best teams in college basketball. Next up for the Vols is Kentucky on Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. This game will have the ESPN College GameDay crew there broadcasting.