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Tennessee basketball: Can Kyle Alexander sustain his high level of play?

By Billy Williford

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 31: Kyle Alexander #11 of the Tennessee Volunteers blocks a shot during the game between the Tusculum Pioneers and the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on October 31, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 31: Kyle Alexander #11 of the Tennessee Volunteers blocks a shot during the game between the Tusculum Pioneers and the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on October 31, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee basketball is 3-0 on the 2018-19 season with the help of Kyle Alexander. Can the senior big man continue his high level of play?

Last season didn’t end well for the Tennessee basketball team. They were put out in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Loyola-Chicago. The Ramblers did go on to play in a Final Four, but does that make the loss any better? That could have been Tennessee. That should have been Tennessee.

The season ended even worse for Kyle Alexander. He was nursing an injury and was unable to play against Loyola, and it made a huge difference in the game. The Ramblers shot 50 percent from the field and outrebounded the Vols by three.

As for this season, the Vols are rolling with a 3-0 record and ranked in the top five. Tennessee has won each game by at least 13 points and has held two opponents under 60 points. The defense appears to be just as good as last season which is in large part to Alexander protecting the rim.

Through the first three games of the season, we’ve seen some of the best basketball out of Alexander. He’s totaled 38 points on 66.7 percent from the field which ranks third best on the team behind Jalen Johnson and John Fulkerson.

As he showed last season, Alexander is one of the best rim protectors in the SEC. He currently sits third in the league with eight blocked shots. If you watched the Georgia Tech game, you know the Yellow Jackets struggled to get anything going offensively and couldn’t stiff the rim at times.

Alexander has also improved his free throw shot, something he’s done the past two seasons. As a sophomore, he only shot 50 percent from the line. We saw a vast improvement last season as he finished with a 71.2 percentage from the charity stripe. This season is even better; he’s 13-of-16 from the line which is 81.2 percent, which is second best on the team only behind Jordan Bowden.

Tennessee’s next test comes Wednesday to open the NIT Season Tip-off against the Louisville Cardinals in Brooklyn, New York. If they happen to win and the Kansas Jayhawks take care of business against Marquette, then the two teams will meet in the Championship Game on Friday.

Next. 5 bold predictions for the 2018-19 season. dark

A game against the Jayhawks means a game against 7-foot-1 Udoka Azubuike. He is averaging 19 points and 7.3 rebounds per games this season. He would be one of the toughest tests for Alexander all season. If Alexander wants to consider himself one of the best bigs in the nation, he needs to continue his high level of play.

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