SEC Tournament preview: Tennessee vs. Arkansas live stream, time, prediction
The Tennessee Vols face the Razorbacks in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. Can the Volunteers continue their hot streak on Saturday?
The No. 2 seeded Volunteers (24-7, 13-5 SEC) are the top seed left in the SEC Tournament after Auburn’s loss to Alabama. Tennessee will face sixth-seeded Arkansas (23-10, 10-8 SEC) Razorbacks in a game to get to the Finals.
The Vols were able to hold off the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a hard-fought victory. Lamonte Turner and Admiral Schofield were a big reason why. Turner led the way with 15 points, and Schofield chipped in 13 points with eight rebounds.
Tennessee won the boards in a big way, and that ended up being a difference in the game. Mississippi State was only able to pull down 33 rebounds to Tennessee’s 50. The Vols will need the same kind of performance to beat the Razorbacks this time around.
In the last meeting between to the two teams, Tennessee led the entire game, and in the last two minutes, Arkansas exploded to send the game in overtime where the Razorbacks were able to get the win.
This should be another dandy to watch if you’re a fan of either team or just an SEC fan. Before we preview both teams, here is the information you need for this SEC Tournament game.
No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers vs. Arkansas Razorbacks
When: Saturday, March 10 at 3 p.m. E.T.
Where: Scottrade Center; St. Louis, Mo.
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Line: Tennessee -3
Over/Under: 143
VIEW OF THE VOLS
Record: 24-7, 13-5 SEC
Last 5: 5-0
Last 10: 8-2
March is all about surviving and advancing. That’s exactly what the Vols did in their first game of the SEC Tournament.
Lamonte Turner led the way for the Vols with 15 points despite a bad shooting night. Before this game, Turner has only missed three free throws in all of SEC play, and he missed three last night alone.
Shooting woes were also from beyond the arc where he has been so good all season long as well. That didn’t stop him from having a good game. If it wasn’t for Turner’s energy, I’m not sure the Vols would have pulled out the win.
Quietly, Grant Williams had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Williams couldn’t get anything going offensively last night as he shot 3-12 from the field and had four turnovers.
In the takeaways of the Mississippi State game, I mentioned the win was U-G-L-Y but there is no other team in the country other than maybe Virginia that can win ugly like Tennessee.
BRACKET UPDATE
In the latest bracketology, from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, Tennessee is a three seed in the South region playing Bucknell in Nashville. It looks like Lunardi has moved Tennessee above Auburn when it comes to playing closer to home. In the CBS Sports projection from Jerry Palm, Tennessee is a three seed in the Midwest region playing Wright State and that game is in Nashville as well.
VIEW OF THE RAZORBACKS
Record: 23-10, 10-8 SEC
Last 5: 4-1
Last 10: 8-2
This Razorbacks team has to be one of the most dangerous six seeds I’ve seen. It just goes to show how deep the SEC was this year.
Arkansas has already played two games in the tournament thus far beating South Carolina and Florida. One thing the Razorbacks have proven in those two games is they can win despite how the game is flowing.
Against South Carolina, they had to fight for every bucket. You know the grind it out, tough-nosed defense type of game that the Gamecocks like to play. With the five-point win, they moved on to Florida who was the three seed in the tourney.
The Gators like to push the ball and have more of an up and down flow to their games, a complete 180 from South Carolina. Arkansas was able to feed off that flow and get an 80-72 win against the Gators.
At this point in the season, I’m not telling you anything new when it comes to the Razorbacks’ three-headed monster when their guards are on the court at the same time. The Vols will have to keep tabs on Jaylen Barford who seems to love playing in St. Louis.
In the two games in the tournament so far Barford has scored 44 points and has shot 42% from the three-point line. He also added ten rebounds against the Gators to give him a double-double on the night.
PREDICTION
Surprise, surprise Tennessee will have to play the only team in their half of the SEC Tournament bracket that beat them in the regular season. Of course, that was going to happen, right?
However, that might be a good thing. Tennessee has been excellent in revenge games this year and will look to win again. The game earlier at Arkansas got away from the Vols, and the whole team knows that was a game they should have won.
I’m not taking the Razorbacks lightly because they could come out and beat the Vols by 10 or more but I did pick Tennessee before the tournament started and I’m sticking with my gut. 73-70 Vols.