Kentucky vs Tennessee......A Preview

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Tennessee……A Preview
2/13/10 Saturday at 9PMEST/8PMCST
ESPN College Gameday Rivalry Week

Tennessee

Location-Knoxville, Tenn.
Enrollment-26,400
Arena-21,678

Head Coach-Bruce Pearl
Career Record-415-121(77.4%) 17 seasons
At Tennessee-98-37 (72.6%) 4 seasons

2008-09 Record-21-13
2008-09 SEC Record-10-6
2008-09 Postseason-0-1 NCAA

2009-10 Record-18-5
2009-10 SEC Record-6-3

Tennessee 83 Austin Peay 54
Tennessee 124 UNC Ashville 49
Tennessee 105 East Carolina 66
Tennessee 57 DePaul 53
Purdue 73 Tennessee 72
Tennessee 86 College of Charleston 69
Tennessee 78 East Tennessee St. 66
Tennessee 75 Middle Tennessee 54
Tennessee 77 Wyoming 58
USC 77 Tennessee 55
Tennessee 99 North Carolina A&T 78
Tennessee 66 Memphis 59
Tennessee 88 Charlotte 71
Tennessee 76 Kansas 68
Tennessee 81 Auburn 55
Tennessee 71 Ole Miss 69 (OT)
Georgia 78 Tennessee 63
Vanderbilt 85 Tennessee 76
Tennessee 61 Florida 60
Tennessee 59 LSU 54
Tennessee 79 South Carolina 53
Vanderbilt 90 Tennessee 71

Tennessee Stats / UK Stats

PPG-76.7 / 82.6
FG%-46.1% / 48.8%
3 Point%-33.1% / 37.8%
FT%-66.3% / 68.2%
Rebounds-37.2 / 42.3
Assists-15.0 / 15.8
TO’s-12.8 / 15.3
Steals-8.6 / 7.4
Blocks-3.7 / 7.1

Probable Starting Lineup

Renaldo Woolridge F-6’8” So. (PPG-4.0)
Wayne Chism C-6’9” Sr. (PPG-13.1)
Bobby Maze G 6’3” Sr. (PPG-8.8)
J.P. Prince G-6’7” Sr. (PPG-8.1)
Scotty Hopson G 6’7” So. (PPG-13.1)

Other Key Players

Skylar McBee G-6’3” Fr.. (PPG-4.6)
Kenny Hall F-6’8” Fr. (PPG-4.9)
Melvin Goins G-511” Jr. (PPG-5.5)

There is no question that coach Bruce Pearl has made the Vols basketball program a force in the SEC and on the national scene. In four years, Pearl has won the most SEC games, 46,…..won three SEC East titles….finished ahead of UK in the SEC for four straight years….reached a #1 ranking in the nation…..and been to four straight NCAA’s. Pearl might be thought of as a clown at times with his demeaner and actions, but the fact is…..Bruce Pearl has been a highly successful college basketball coach. Before Pearl stepped foot on the Tennessee campus, he had garnered 415 wins for a tremendous winning percentage of 77%.....and in his four years in Knoxville, Pearl has won at a terrific 73%. Still, despite the Pearl’s success in the regular season and the SEC, he has never won the SEC tourney nor advanced past the NCAA Sweet 16.

This season, the Vols have a huge signature win over #1 ranked Kansas and lost an early season game to top 10 ranked Purdue by only one point. However, the Vols did have an ugly 22 point loss to an unranked USC team. Tennessee has lost three SEC games…..one to Georgia at Athens and two to Vandy….including a recent blow out loss in Nashville. This loss will undoubtedly drop Tennessee in the rankings, but they will still be a top 20 team when they face the Cats in Lexington.

The Vols, of course, were hurt by the loss of starter Tyler Smith early in the year due to his criminal actions, but they still have a very talented starting lineup which includes three seniors. Tennessee is lead in scoring by Wayne Chism and Scotty Hopson. Chism, who seems to have been in Knoxville forever, is shooting 49% from the field plus hitting 35.6% from the perimeter. In addition, Chism leads the team in rebounds and blocks while garnering 30 steals. UK fans are very familiar with native Kentuckian Scotty Hopson who is proving to be a very good college player….as everyone expected. Hopson, is the leading 3 point shooter on the Vols…hitting 38-95 for a very solid 40%. J.P. Prince is shooting 50% from the field while leading the Vols in assists and steals.

Tennessee has good size, but have not proven to be a great rebounding team. Prince and Hopson are both 6’7” with good length and can be difficult to shoot over. The Vols are very athletic and average nearly 9 steals PG. Make no mistake, this a very good Tennessee team that will very likely be more than ready to make up for a poor performance in Nashville. Count on Pearl to be wearing his orange jacket and having devised a game strategy that he hopes will result in an upset win in Rupp arena.

UK is coming off a lackluster performance against a decent Alabama team. The Cats simply didn’t exhibit the overall tough defense that coach Cal wanted and the offense seemed out of sinc at times. Unfortunately, TO’s remain a problem with guards Wall and Bledsoe contributing 9 of the 16 TO’s. Still, the Cats did win and improved their fabulous record to 23-1. Cousins added another double double, but he didn’t play with his usual intensity. Despite the TO’s, Wall played a solid 2nd half and finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. The 3 position continues to lack the needed consistency in offense as Miller and Dobson finished with zero points….however, Liggins continued his solid defense while adding 8 points and 7 rebounds.

The Cats hit only 19-31 free throws and free throw shooting remains a problem. UK’s big men are struggling from the FT line…..Cousins has hit 110-168 for 65.5%......Patterson has hit 55-88 for 62.5% and Orton 25-47 for 53.2%. Admittedly, Cousins has improved some from the FT line from early in the year…..but overall….the Cats frontline definitely need to improve their FT shooting….which could be critical come NCAA tourney time.

Saturday’s game with Tennessee will be huge as ESPN Gameday will be at Rupp arena and the game is on ESPN. This game will get a lot of national attention. The Cats have two games with the Vols and a win at Rupp arena is a must because UK will have to play Tennessee in Knoxville where they are extremely tough on their home floor.

I look for a highly motivated UK team taking the floor against a dangerous Tennessee team looking to bounce back from their embarrassing performance in Nashville against Vandy. This looks to be a tough close game, but I see the Cats prevailing by 5-7 points. GO CATS!