Tennessee basketball hosts Bulldogs in their final regular season game for Senior Night. Here is the preview of the UT Volunteers and the UGA Dawgs.
No. 16 Tennessee basketball (22-7, 12-5 SEC) plays host to the Georgia Bulldogs (16-13, 7-10 SEC) on senior night. From the coach that does almost everything right, Rick Barnes has never beaten Georgia. The last time the Vols beat them was the 2013-14 season.
A regular season SEC title is on the line as well. The Vols have the opportunity to at least have a share of the SEC regular-season title with a win. Now, they do need some help from South Carolina to get the top overall seed in the SEC Tournament when the Gamecocks play Auburn at 3:30 on Saturday, but it could happen. South Carolina has proved they are a tough out home or away.
BRACKET UPDATE: In the latest bracketology, from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, Tennessee basketball is a three seed in the South region playing Charleston. In the CBS Sports projection from Jerry Palm, they are a three seed in the West region playing Bucknell.
It appears that Tennessee is in an excellent spot to get a 3-4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Slipping below those seeds is highly unlikely at this point in the season. Just goes to show how well this team has played throughout the year.
As for Georgia, they are coming off a heartbreaking 61-60 loss to Texas A&M. Remember Georgia has already beat the Vols once this year, but the game was down in Athens. They are a dangerous team that will be desperate to get a big win against the Vols.
No. 16 Tennessee Volunteers vs. Georgia Bulldogs
When: Saturday, March 3 at 6:00 p.m. E.T.
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena; Knoxville, Tennessee
TV: SEC Network
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Line: Tennessee -9
Over/Under: 131.5
VIEW OF THE VOLS
Record: 22-7, 12-5 SEC
Last 5: 4-1
Last 10: 8-2
Farewell to James Daniel III, the graduate transfer from Howard. He has given the Vols good minutes off the bench this year and has been a pleasant contributor to Tennessee.
His numbers don’t jump off the page by any means, but since it’s senior night, we will highlight his season so far. He is scoring 5.9 points per game with three assists in 20 minutes of action. He has scored in double digits in six games this season with a high of 17 points twice.
I have to mention Admiral Schofield and the games he has been having. He apparently hates the state of Mississippi or just teams that play in Mississippi. In the past two games against Ole Miss and Mississippi State, he has scored 49 points with 14 rebounds and three assists. During that two-game stretch, he took 32 shots making 57% of them.
VIEW OF THE BULLDOGS
Record: 16-13, 7-10 SEC
Last 5: 3-2
Last 10: 4-6
February was an up and down month for the Bulldogs. They started off with three straight losses to Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Auburn. However, they followed that up with a two-game winning streak against Florida and Tennessee.
Georgia beat Tennessee basketball in Athens two weeks ago, and Yante Maten went off along with his down low counter partner Derek Ogbeide who poured in 16 points.
Maten is tough to handle and is coming off three straight double-doubles. In that span, he has scored 56 points, grabbed 33 rebounds and swatted away ten shots. The Vols have to stop him if they want a chance at a regular season SEC title.
PREDICTION
If you tuned into the allfortennessee.com show on Friday, I already gave my prediction away.
Auburn and Tennessee are tied at the top of the standings with Auburn dropping two straight games. Not to say South Carolina hates Auburn or Bruce Pearl, but they would like for nothing more than to knock off the top-seeded Tigers. And, I mean, who knows, South Carolina might have more March magic left in the tank from last season.
With the pressure of Tennessee basketball inching closer to the top and the building pressure from the FBI, I could see Auburn losing.
No way Tennessee loses with all that on the line. Barnes will get his first win against Georgia and Tennessee will have a chance at a regular season title. 76-64 Tennessee.