Men’s Basketball: Tennessee to face struggling Florida Atlantic

The Tennessee Volunteers (4-4) men’s basketball team will be facing the Florida Atlantic Owls (2-7) of Conference USA on Wednesday evening.

Tennessee is coming off a 94-86 loss to 17th ranked Butler. The Vols went into Hinkle Fieldhouse and exceeded expectations for many Vol fans being nearly a 20-point underdog.

Kevin Punter turned in another terrific performance with 27 points, and freshmen Admiral Schofield and Shembari Phillips showed promise combining for 24 points.

Wednesday night’s game should provide more opportunities for these three to have similar performances. Frankly put, even though Tennessee is still undersized, they are superior in every major statistical category besides free throw shooting percentage. However, coach Rick Barnes has made it clear that the Vols cannot overlook any team they go up against. The Vols trailed Marshall at home for an extended period, Gardner-Webb hung around, and the Vols barely escaped  UNC Asheville in the home opener 82-78. But back to the Owls.

The Owls are coached by former NBA player and Detroit Pistons head coach Michael Curry. Curry is in his second season as the head coach after going 9-20 in his first season, and this year added former Philadelphia 76er and Cleveland Cavalier player Eric Snow. In other words, the Owls have a ton of basketball experience on the staff, and could be a pesky team down the stretch, but right now they are still building.

The Owls’ wins come over Ave Maria and Miami (OH), with losses to the likes of Lipscomb and East Carolina.

Pre-Game Notes

The best player on the Owls would be hard to pin point in terms of eye popping numbers. However, the nod statistically would go to sophomore center C.J. Turman. The center who grabs nearly seven rebounds each game is also averaging 11.5 points. These numbers may not seem mind blowing, but the sophomore is shooting 55 percent from the field, and is scoring 11.5 on almost seven shots. To put that into a little bit of perspective, Vol senior Devon Baulkman is averaging 10.6 points on ten field goal attempts.

Which leads to the next point that these two teams are drastically different in style.

Florida Atlantic has attempted a total of 429 field goals in nine games. Tennessee has attempted 517 field goals in eight games. With the Vols attempting nearly 100 more shots in one less game, it shows that the Owls are a team that does not push the tempo like the the Volunteers, and are ultimately scoring 18 points less.

As mentioned before, the Vols outmatch them in every major statistical category. The undersized vols are averaging seven more rebounds, four more assists, and shoot five percent better from the field.

In the end, if the Vols come ready to play and continue to push the tempo and use their athleticism, Tennessee should see a win in Thompson-Boling and head up to Seattle with a winning record to face Gonzaga.