Kentucky vs Tennessee.....Preview 2

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Tennessee...Preview 2
2/27/10 Saturday at NOON-EST/11AM-CST (CBS)

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-20-7
2009-10 SEC Record-8-5

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)
Tennessee 63 Alabama 56
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
Kentucky 73 Vanderbilt 62
Tennessee 69 Georgia 60
Tennessee 63 South Carolina 55
Florida 75 Tennessee 62

Tennessee Stats / UK Stats

PPG-74.9 / 80.5
FG%-45.6% / 48.0%
3 Point%-33.0% / 35.8%
FT%-66.0% / 67.6%
Rebounds-36.6 / 42.5
Assists-14.7 / 15.2
TO’s-13.1 / 15.0
Steals-8.4 / 7.3
Blocks-3.7 / 7.1

Probable Starting Lineup

Renaldo Woolridge F-6’8” So. (PPG-3.8)
Wayne Chism C-6’9” Sr. (PPG-12.9)
Bobby Maze G 6’3” Sr. (PPG-9.4)
J.P. Prince G-6’7” Sr. (PPG-8.3)
Scotty Hopson G 6’7” So. (PPG-12.9)

Other Key Players

Skylar McBee G-6’3” Fr.. (PPG-4.0)
Kenny Hall F-6’8” Fr. (PPG-4.5)
Melvin Goins G-511” Jr. (PPG-5.4)

Four of the Vols five SEC losses have come on the road at UK, Vandy, Georgia and Florida…..their one loss at home was to Vandy. Tennessee is always tough at home and they proved that in spades this season by defeating #1 ranked Kansas in Knoxville. Overall, Tennessee is a top 20 team that starts 3 seniors and has a very talented starting 5. Despite dismissing senior Tyler Smith from the team early in the season, the Vols have adjusted nicely and had a solid season. Sophomore Scotty Hopson along with Wayne Chism lead the team in scoring. Hopson is the Vols leading 3 point shooter hitting 42-111 for 37.8% while Chism is the leading rebounder at 6.9 PG and shot blocker…..in addition, for a big man….Chism is a good 3 point shooter and has hit 26 for the season thus far. J.P. Prince provides excellent defense and leads Tennessee in steals with 44. Coach Pearl is not shy about going to the bench with several players getting meaningful minutes.

Wayne Chism who has been playing with some hip problems, took a nasty fall in the Florida game and hurt that same hip. Chism because of foul difficulty and the fall….only played 15 minutes against Florida. Chism was in obvious pain after the fall and his physical condition for the UK game has not been discussed, although the best guess is that Chism will play if at all possible. In the first meeting, coach Pearl had the Vols slow the game down using a lot of clock on most possessions and Tennessee trailed UK by only 60-56 at the 6:13 mark…..but, after that….the Cats stretched the lead and won by 11 points. Whether Pearl will employ the same strategy or speed the game up is not known, but playing at home in Knoxville might encourage Pearl to change strategy. This game, coach Pearl will have the services of 6’10” Brian Williams who is now off of suspension, so that might influence Pearl’s game strategy. You can bet that Tennessee and the home crowd will be sky high in an effort to defeat the #2 ranked Cats.

UK comes to Knoxville less than 48 hours after defeating South Carolina at Rupp arena. The Cats got tremendous play from Patterson who had 23 points and 8 rebounds….and Cousins who added yet another double double with19 points and 11 rebounds. Darius Miller also played a solid game with 7 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks and zero TO’s. Super talented John Wall has struggled from the field the past 3 games hitting only 13-42 for 30.9%.... and 3-16 from 3 point range over the past 5 games….but, importantly Wall contributes in so many ways by directing the Cats offense, playing solid defense and making a great play when it’s needed.

Unfortunately, UK, as a team, continues to struggle from the perimeter….the past 6 SEC games…..UK is 25-103 for a pitiful 24.2%. This is a definite concern going forward…..as Jimmy Dykes pointed out at halftime….all 5 recent NCAA champions were excellent from 3 point range averaging around 39%-40%. The Cats 24.2% pales in comparison. The Cats got out of Nashville with a win by playing great defense….but with poor shooting from the field and free throw line. It will be difficult to get road wins or NCAA wins with subpar shooting from the field or free throw line. Hopefully, UK will regain their shooting touch ASAP.

Bruce Pearl’s orange coat won’t be enough to overcome these super talented Cats who will looking for their 28th win of the season. Cats win by 5-7 points. GO CATS!