Kentucky Wildcat Basketball Preview – Know Your Enemy: Tennessee Volunteers
By Paul Jordan
GAME 30
MARCH 6, 2011 – 12PM
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS 18-12 (8-7)
THOMPSON-BOLING ARENA – KNOXVILLE, KY
TV – CBS
SERIES HISTORY
KENTUCKY LEADS 145-66
RECENT GAMES
2/8/2011: KENTUCKY 73 Tennessee 61
3/13/2010: KENTUCKY 74 Tennessee 45*
2/27/2010: Tennessee 74 KENTUCKY 65
2/13/2010: KENTUCKY 73 Tennessee 62
2/21/2009: KENTUCKY 77 Tennessee 58
*SEC Tournament
Kentucky. Tennessee. Bruce Pearl. John Calipari. That awful orange jacket. And the recent Kenucky dominance. Even in the Billy G years, the Wildcats handled Tennessee and come into this game having won five of the last six and 16 of the last 20 games. In Knoxville, the story has been a bit different as the Vols have taken three of the last four, but Kentucky has been 6-4 over the last ten games in Knoxville.
Both teams desperately need this game. I still think the Vols are squarely on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. Sure, the Vols have some big wins, but they have some bad losses as well. As for Kentucky, beating the Vols may land them the number two seed in the SEC Tournament. We will know how that stands on Saturday, but regardless if it is for the second seed or not, Kentucky desperately needs a road win to boost some confidence heading into the SEC Tournament. Plus, it’s the Vols. It’s always a must win game.
THE STARTERS
#2 – G – MELVIN GOINS – SR 5’11 180
8.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.3 apg
#23 – G – CAMERON TATUM – JR – 6’6 192
9.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.2 apg
#32 – G – SCOTTY HOPSON – JR 6’7 200
17.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.4 apg
#12 – F – TOBIAS HARRIS – FR 6’8 226
14.3 ppg, .7.6 rpg, 1.4 apg
#25 – F – JOHN FIELDS – SR 6’9 222
2.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.1 apg
BACKCOURT
Melvin Goins assured himself a spot in the all time “Kentucky villains” list for his cheap shot to DeMarcus Cousins nether region during the SEC Tourney blowout loss. Goins has never been an accurate shot and this year is no different as he is hitting 36.4% of his FG’s and 31.9% of his treys. Goins actually had a pretty good game in Lexington with 16 points, but the Vols are just 3-3 when Goins scores 15 or more points. He can get hot from outside though, so Kentucky can not ignore him. He does a good job finding open teammates, but he is very prone to getting rattled and can play out of control. Cameron Tatum’s scoring has been on a steady downslide the last six games with just one double digit game over that span and he was held to just 3 points in Lexington. Tatum is prone to hot and cold streaks that can last a few games though and he can hurt you from 3-point range, but is hitting just 28.7% on the year. Tatum is pretty active passing the ball and is a pretty solid rebounder. Tennessee is one of the few teams that can equal Kentucky’s size in the two and three position, and he picks up the slack for Goins who is just 5’11. Scotty Hopson scored just 11 points in Lexington, but he has been on an absolute tear since then, scoring 23.6 a game since then. Overall, Hopson puts up solid numbers but he has been called out a few times by Pearl for his inconsistency during the course of a game and “disappearing”. But when Hopson is on, he can take over a game and hits 38.4 of his treys and is hard to defend due to his size. You would expect a bit more rebounding from him, but there are very few holes in his game. Freshman Trae Golden is a pretty good ballhandler coming off the bench with a 2.00 A/TO ratio and he averages 3.1 ppg and is not a great 3-point shooter. Skylar McBee will also make an appearance to lob a few 3-pointers. He is pretty much one dimensional as 58 of his 70 shot attempts have been treys and he is hitting 31% of them as opposed to 30% on all field goals. He’s averaging 2.9 ppg, but there is no reason to leave him alone as he can get hot.
FRONTCOURT
The matchup of this game to watch will be the battle between Tobias Harris and Terrence Jones. As we recall, Harris was heavily recruited by Kentucky and he has a comparative skill set to Jones. Harris has definitely been an impact freshman with seven double doubles on the season. Jones is a better scorer, rebounder, and has twice as many blocks on the season than Harris, but Harris is a better FT shooter. Both pass and shoot about the same, so it should be an interesting pairing. The first meeting was a draw with both tossing in 10, but Harris just scored a career high 25 versus South Carolina. John Fields has been starting for the Vols and he only plays about 14 minutes a game. He shoots well, but is not terribly productive when he is in. This is the third school in four basketball seasons for Fields, and his best game was a 8 point, 10 rebound showing in the very first game of the season. The Kentucky game began a five game scoreless sting for him but he exploded for 4 points versus South Carolina. I guess his starting is some type of weird Bruce Pearl motivation for the hockey goon of the SEC, Brian Williams. Williams is big, and bulky (6’10, 272) and he likes to play physical and bang under the boards. In 22 minutes a game, he is averaging 7.0 points and 7.5 boards. It’s hard to predict what Williams will do offensively as he runs hot and cold. He did have 8 points and 9 boards in Lexington. He does have the tendency to get into foul trouble so UK has the opportunity to get him on the bench pretty early.
TEAM STATS
POINTS PER GAME
KENTUCKY 77.3 Tennessee 70.8
REBOUNDS PER GAME
Tennessee 38.9 KENTUCKY 38.3
ASSISTS PER GAME
Tennessee 13.4 KENTUCKY 12.7
FG%
KENTUCKY 46.3% Tennessee 43.1%
3 PT %
KENTUCKY 39.9% Tennessee 31.3%
FT%
KENTUCKY 71.7% Tennessee 67.4%
OUTLOOK
For whatever reason, Tennessee has not matched up well against Kentucky the past few seasons and this season looks to be more of the same. The one thing that does concern me is that Bruce Pearl pulls a “Let’s win one for the sweaty one” Knute Rockne type of speech and gets an inspired effort from his team in what should be his last home game at Tennessee. Scotty Hopson is always a big concern, but he and Tobias Harris are the only players that should give Kentucky trouble. Of course, this game is on Pat Summit’s home court so if Kentucky is going to get a win on the road, it will likely be in an insane environment. I have to admit, I am nervous about this game, but in the end, if Darius Miller can play well, he gives Kentucky a whole new look. KENTUCKY 78 Tennessee 71.
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