Tennessee Basketball: Vols to Face Undefeated George Washington in Brooklyn

Tennessee basketball takes the court again Friday night in Brooklyn against the George Washington Colonials.

The Tennessee Vols basketball team will be traveling to Brooklyn to play in the home of the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA as a part of the Barclays Center Classic.

The tournament games are Friday and Saturday and features four teams: Cincinnati, Nebraska, George Washington, and Tennessee, with each team playing two games.

The Vols first match up will be against the undefeated George Washington Colonials (5-0).

Through five games the Vols (4-1) and Colonials have both faced Gardner-Webb and Army West Point. Tennessee out scored Gardner-Webb 89 to 64 while the Colonials beat them with a score of 94-65. George Washington beat the Vols most recent opponent, Army, by a score of 92 to 81.

The Vols win over Army with a total of 95-80 was called their best performance by coach Rick Barnes.

George Washington 

The Vols will once again be undersized going into Friday’s game in Brooklyn. The Colonials are comprised of a front court with an average height of 6’9, while the Vols “front court” averages 6’5. George Washington is a team that will take advantage of their size and attack the rim, and feed the low post more than an Army did on Tuesday night’s win.

The front court is led by 6’9 redshirt junior Tyler Cavanaugh (14.8 ppg, 8 rebounds per game) and senior forward Kevin Larsen (14 ppg, 7.6 rpg). Like Army, the Colonials have experience to go along with their size, but expect Cavanaugh and Larsen to be stronger forces in the paint.

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The Colonials are averaging well over 80 points per game, but only 5.2 three-pointers a game. The only 3-point threat to this point in the season has been senior guard and leading scorer Patricio Garino who averages 17.8 ppg. Garino is 7-for-11 on the season, and the only one shooting over 40 percent from behind the arc.

Both teams come in the game on high notes, but the Colonials come in with a signature win early in the season over a then top ten ranked Virginia team. Expect George Washington to come into Friday’s game with a ton of confidence.

Tennessee

The Vols are a team that has improved each game thus far. They have not let their size halter them, but have not faced a team to the caliber of George Washington. Nevertheless, the Vols are out rebounding their opponent 44 to 42 on average. It is not a wide margin, but it is impressive that a team that averages a starting lineup of 6’4 has the ability to win on the boards. In fact, the Vols have two games this season where the exceed the 50 rebound mark (Gardner-Webb (52), Georgia Tech (53)).

A large part of the success on the boards goes to seniors Derek Reese and Armani Moore.

Reese has not been lighting it up offensively, but is pulling down 9.2 rpg. Armani Moore on the other hand, has picked up where Josh Richardson left off. He has more help offensively than Richardson did, but Moore has drastically improved his offensive input.

Last season, Moore averaged 10.3 points per game with 6.8 boards and is now at 18.6 ppg and 9.2 rebounds per game. Moore is also heading up to Brooklyn after a career scoring night against the Army Black Knights where the senior scored a career high 29 points, and brought down 8 rebounds.

Ultimately, in order for the Vols to give the Colonials their first loss of the season and advance to the Barclays Center Classic championship game to face the winner of Cincinnati and Nebraska, they will simply have to continue what they have been doing.

Push the pace, Attack the boards

The Vols essentially have four guards in the starting lineup. Therefore, they will have a speed advantage and should continue to push the pace. George Washington has proven they can score at a high rate, but they have yet to play against a team that pushes the ball up the court as quick as the Volunteers. In today’s basketball landscape, the Golden State Warriors of the NBA are proving that size can be countered with a smaller lineup. They have won a NBA championship and currently sit at 16-0 playing mostly with an undersized lineup. No, no, no, the Vols are not the Warriors, but the blueprint is still there for them to take a look at.

As noted, the Vols are out rebounding their opponents by two on the season. They go up to Brooklyn with an average of 44 a game, while the Colonials average 41.4.

On the other hand, George Washington’s opponents are only averaging 34.8 rebounds, and have put their size to use. However, like the game with Army, the Vols outmatch the Colonials in athleticism. With athletes like Robert Hubbs III and Armani Moore attacking the rebounds with purpose, they have enough athleticism to counter the size of the Colonials, and keep the margin close.

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Ultimately, all signs seem to point to another high scoring affair for the Vols, and their toughest opponent thus far.

The game tips off at 9:00 p.m.