Tennessee Basketball: Keys to Vols Defeating Michael White and the Florida Gators
By Seth Norris
Rick Barnes’s Tennessee basketball team will face Michael White and the Florida Gators for their SEC home opener. Here are the Volunteers’ keys to winning.
The men’s basketball team will face the Florida Gators on Wednesday in the first SEC home game of the season.
The Gators will be led by Billy Donovan’s replacement, and first year head coach Michael (Mike) White, the same Mike White from Louisiana Tech that rejected the Vols offer to take the job that was given to former coach Donnie Tyndall. Who knows where the Tennessee program would be right now if White accepted the job, but Tennessee fans will get their first look at their new rival.
The Gators come in with a four-game win streak over Tennessee, and won last season’s contest by a score of 66-49. Armani Moore (18) and Derek Reese (10) were the only Vols in double figures.
One season later, the Vols look to even things up early in conference play. The Vols lost their SEC opener to Auburn 83 to 77 putting them at 0-1 in the SEC. The Gators took down the Georgia Bulldogs in Gainesville 77 to 63 to win their home SEC opener. A win for Tennessee would be head coach Rick Barnes’s biggest win in Volunteer orange by far, and here is what they will be up against.
Florida Gators – Players who will be a match up problem
Dorian Finney-Smith (6’8 forward, Senior) – Finney-Smith comes into Knoxville averaging 13.4 points and 7.4 rebounds a game. Last season against the Vols, Finney-Smith put up 20 points and 10 rebounds in the Gators victory. Finney-Smith is the most versatile player on the Gators team, and assuming the Vols play man-to-man defense, expect Armani Moore to get the assignment.
John Egbunu (6’11 center, RS Sophomore) – The 6-11 center will be an obvious mismatch due to his size alone. The Nigerian native sat out last season due to transfer regulations. Egbunu played at the University of South Florida his freshman year and averaged 7.4 points and 6.4 rebounds. In his first season with the Gators, he is averaging 11 points and 7 rebounds. The up-tempo play will be to the Vols advantage with Egbunu, and get the big man tired quick, but if this game turns into a half court game, advantage Florida. If that’s also the case, expect to see Vol freshmen Kyle Alexander and Ray Kasongo to get an opportunity to produce against Egbunu.
Devin Robinson (6’8 forward, Sophomore) – The sophomore forward was named to the SEC All-Freshman team last season averaging 6.4 points and 2.4 rebounds off the bench. In last season’s game against Tennessee, Robinson scored seven points in 17 minutes of play. With a larger role, Robinson has increased this season’s totals to 11 points and 7 rebounds (the same as Egbunu). With his size of 6-8, and the ability to shoot the three, he will be another match up problem for the Vols.
Vols Keys to win
First and foremost, senior Armani Moore is going to have to step up big time for Tennessee. Moore, who was averaging around 15 points per game going into SEC play, scored only one-point against Auburn. Moore brings a lot to the table for Tennessee on the boards and on the defensive side every night, but it is important to this team’s success for him to points on the board. If aggressive and under control, Moore can score double figures, and proved last season that he can do it against the Gators with an 18-point performance.
Secondly, and obvious, they need to hit open shots. The Vols missed countless open shots against Auburn, and still only lost by six. That might be a bigger endorsement on how bad Auburn is, but the Vols shot only 10% from behind the arc and 38% from the field. Being an undersized team, the Vols will not win any games with shooting performances like the one in Auburn Arena.
Thirdly, a freshman outside of Admiral Schofield needs to step up and contribute. Schofield has been a pleasant surprise to this point, and goes into the Florida game fresh off a 22-point performance. Guard Shembari Phillips has shown glimpses of being able to contributing with an eight-point performance against Butler, but has been largely inconsistent. Kyle Alexander and Ray Kasongo have been largely absent in the post. With the Vols lacking post play, and playing a Florida team with a 6-11 center, the Vols will need either Kasongo or Alexander to provide valuable minutes. With senior Derek Reese struggling thus far, the Vols need the Canadian big men to contribute on Wednesday.