Tennessee Basketball Eyes Elite Eight, but Purdue Stands in the Way

Tennessee basketball is one of the four SEC teams left in the 2019 Tournament. To keep dancing, the Vols must get by a gritty Purdue team.

At one point this season, Tennessee basketball ran over opponents. Then the Vols hit a hiccup. However, they still made it to the tournament and are one of the four SEC teams in the Sweet 16.

Now the Vols take on Purdue. These two teams have faced four times. The record is 2-2. However, this meeting between the two teams is the first in postseason play.

This Sweet 16 appearance is Tennessee’s first since 2014. As for Purdue, this is the Boilermakers third straight appearance.

The Vols have all the tools to defeat the Boilermakers, but they must fix somethings before that can happen.

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If Tennessee wants to continue dancing, then it has to slow down a high powered Purdue team.

Purdue’s high roller is Carsen Edwards, but the Vols need to worry about Matt Haarms as well. These two players have been crucial to the Boilermakers success this season and especially this tournament.

Edwards averages 23.6 points a game and is one smart basketball player. The Vols must find a way to slow him down and get him cold.

Tennessee also needs to be careful for him on the defensive side of things because he is known to steal the rock.

Edwards is coming off a 42 point game against defending champs, Villanova. Against Old Dominion, he put up 26 points. So if the Vols can slow him down and limit him from making shots, they have a really good chance. If Edwards stays hot, it could prove to be ugly for the Vols.

As for Haarms, he is a 7-3 monster. He leads the Big 10 in blocked shots and will be looking to swat balls against Tennessee.

Haarms averages two blocked shots a game and will travel on the court to try and block shots. He won’t just squat under the goal and wait for the bigs to come to him. He also is the team’s leading rebounder averaging 5.4 boards a game.

Other notable names for Purdue are Ryan Cline who scores 11.7 points a game. He is the only other Boilermaker to average double-digit points.

However, what makes Purdue so gritty and hard to beat is its ability is how even its team scores points. Yes, Edwards is the main guy, but the guys behind him do their part as well.

In the game against Villanova, Haarms contributed 18 points and Cline scored 12.

These three guys are who to look out for with Purdue. Tennessee must find a way to stop them or at least slow them down.

As for Tennessee, I want to see the team that beat Georgia 96-50, that went on a 19 game win streak. The Vols have the tangibles and experience to go the distance, but they cannot beat themselves.

Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield need to get back in sync together and score some points.

In the first two tournament games, Williams scored nine points against Colgate and got back on track against Iowa with 19 points. As for Schofield, he scored 19 against Colgate and Iowa.

Schofield has emerged late this season as the guy to lead the way for Tennessee, but I need to see Williams do the same. Williams won SEC Player of the Year, now he needs to show the Big 10 and the rest of the world how good he can be.

Without a hot Williams, Tennessee could potentially lose this game. Jordan Bone and Lamont Turner continue to do a good job handling the ball, but need to make better shots. Bone shot 6-of-15 isn’t acceptable against a team like Purdue.

If Tennessee can slow down Edwards, play a great defensive game and get Williams to play to his level, then the Vols make the Elite Eight. The Vols have only advanced to the Elite Eight once, and that was in 2010 when they defeated Ohio State.

In my opinion, Tennessee beats Purdue 85-79 and moves onto the next round. Williams proves his worth and him and Schofield find that mojo again. The Vols will be the first SEC team in the Elite Eight.

Purdue and Tennessee faceoff tonight at 7:29 p.m. ET on TBS. If the Vols win, they will play the winner of Oregon vs. Virginia.