Two Takes For Tennessee Vs. Kentucky

Kentucky vs. Tennessee, 4:00 ET

This year has been one of the more interesting college basketball seasons that I can remember. There is a lot of parity and no clear team that is head and shoulders above the other. Of course, there are some teams that are better than others but there isn't one team that you can call a lock for the championship. If ever there was a year for a lower seed to win the tournament, this could be it. Before we get to it, we have one last day of college hoops and this afternoon we get a game between Kentucky and Tennessee. 

Kentucky currently sits with the 15th rank in the nation and a 22-8 record. Not only that, but they are 12-5 in the SEC, and while they don't still have a chance to win the conference in the regular season, they have put together a nice campaign. The Wildcats are playing some good basketball, but they've only played two road games in their past five. One of those was a one-point loss to LSU, and the other was a two-point win over Mississippi State. The majority of their losses have come on the road this season. There have been a few home losses though, one of which came against Tennessee. In that game the teams combined to score 195 point as both sides played little defense and were dominating on offense. For the Wildcats, Rob Dillingham was the leading scorer, piling in 35 points on 14-20 shooting, including 6-8 from deep. This was by far the best game of his young career. In fact it is the only time he has scored more than 25 points in a game all season. Kentucky's leading scorer is typically Antonio Reeves, who is averaging 20.0 points per game. He also is an effective shooter from deep and will be able to space the floor against the Volunteers. 

John Calipari rants after beating Auburn. (Credit: USA Today Sports Network)

On Tennessee's side, there isn't much negative to say about them. They can win shootouts, they can play defense (although never really shutting down opponents), and they have a very good scorer who leads the way. Tennessee comes into this game with a 24-6 record and a 14-3 record within the conference, good for first place. They have won their past seven games and nine of their past ten. This was the toughest stretch of their season and they've been very good at getting through this stretch. I thought that this was going to be a stretch where they went 2-2, but it looks like they very well could end up 4-0. The Volunteers are led by their backcourt which has Dalton Knecht averaging 20.7 points, but the rest of the guards combine to average about 36 points per game. What I like about them is that their guards are also active on the glass. When you play with a smaller and quicker lineup you need people who are going to battle for rebounds. They should be able to compete against this Wildcat team that is good, but isn't quite great. In the first game, Tennessee was able to grab six more boards than their opponent and that was really all they needed to get a bit of an edge. 

I think this game will be much of the same. There is no reason for Tennessee to take their foot off the gas in this game and I expect them to push for the strong finish in the SEC. Kentucky's offense could be on full display once again and I wouldn't be too shocked if we see them put up a ton of points. Tennessee doesn't mind shootouts and the teams combined to take 143 field goal attempts in the first game which is 3.6 shots per minute. I think that Tennessee covers and this game goes over the total. 

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