Tennessee Basketball: Vols open SEC play against Bruce Pearl and Auburn

The Tennessee men’s basketball team opens up SEC play on Saturday against the Auburn Tigers and former Vol head coach Bruce Pearl.

Last year’s return to Thompson-Boling was an emotional one for Pearl and Vol fans. It was full of people still wanting him back, people who did not, and those backing then new Vol head coach Donnie Tyndall.

Pearl’s return to Knoxville was spoiled by Tyndall and company with a score of 71-63. Former Vol and current Miami Heat guard Josh Richardson scored 15 points in the game. Current Vols Armani Moore and Kevin Punter combined for 36 points.

Part two of Bruce Pearl in Knoxville will have to wait until February, however, as Saturday’s game will be played inside Auburn Arena. A year removed from the return of Pearl and with the Vols now under what seems to be the head coach for the next few years, let’s focus on the basketball itself this time around.

Auburn vs Tennessee 

Vols: Record: Overall (7-5) Home (7-0) Away (0-2) Neutral (0-3)

Auburn:Record: Overall (6-5) Home (4-1) Away (1-3) Neutral (1-1)

Thus far in the season, Auburn and Tennessee basketball have been similar. Similar in the fact that they both have five losses, score around 80 points per game, gather 14 assists a game, and are both picked to finish in the bottom half of the SEC. The Tigers were most popularly picked to finish around 10th, with Tennessee behind them.

Also similar, neither enter the game with a marquee victory, and neither have a loss that will stun you. Many would point to the Auburn losses to 7-4 MTSU and 5-7 Harvard. However, MTSU has wins over the likes of Belmont and an 8-5 UNC Asheville team that nearly knocked off Tennessee at home and they have a six-point win over Georgetown. Harvard is fresh off a 22-8 season that saw them lose to North Carolina, and they have a win over BYU and a six-point loss to Kansas, so it’s not surprising that a bottom tier SEC team would come up short against these two programs.

In Tennessee’s case, they have taken care of business at home, winning all seven games against smaller programs, and the five losses are to teams with a combined record of 50-14 (none have more than three losses except for Nebraska (8-5)).

In other words, neither team heads into SEC play with a record that is shockingly disturbing or good.

Auburn Players to watch

 #1 Kareem Canty  (Junior) – Canty is transfer from Marshall who sat out last season. He is by far the most gifted offensively for the Tigers, and maybe one of the better players in the conference. The guard is averaging 19 points and six assists including a 27-point performance against New Mexico and a 25-point performance against a top 10 Xavier team.

#12 Tyler Harris (Senior) – Harris is the brother of former Vol, and current Orlando Magic forward, Tobias Harris. Tyler Harris is a graduate transfer from Providence that averaged nearly 10 points and four rebounds in 26 minutes in his final season there. Thus far with Auburn, the senior forward is averaging a near double-double with 14 points and 8 rebounds a game. At 6-10, Harris will give the small Vols something to worry about, as he is shooting at a mark of 50 percent.

#5 Cinmeon Bowers (Senior) – Bowers should be a familiar face. Bowers put up a 13 point and 8 rebound performance when the Tigers came to Knoxville last year. He will not cause a problem with his height, but at 6-7 and 250 pounds, Bowers will be a load for the undersized Tennessee team to deal with. Bowers is averaging 12.5 points and 9.7 rebounds to open SEC play.

#4 T.J. Dunans (Junior) – Dunans is yet another transfer in his first season with the Tigers. The 6-5 guard comes from Columbia State Community College, and is starting off to the tune of 12 points a game while shooting 52 percent from the field, and nearly 40 percent from behind the arc.

The game is slated for a 2:00 PM tip-off on CBS this Saturday.