Tennessee basketball: Vols unlucky with LSU losing to Florida

The Tennessee basketball team travels to Baton Rouge on Saturday to take on another top-15 team in LSU.

For the second straight Saturday, the Tennessee basketball team will have their hands full with a top-15 opponent on the road. It’s no surprise, everyone knew the last seven games of the season was going to be tough, but it seems like it just keeps getting harder.

Last Saturday, the Vols traveled to Rupp Arena to take on the Kentucky Wildcats who were coming off a home loss to LSU earlier in the week. Since John Calipari became the head man in Lexington, the Cats haven’t lost back-to-back home games. Most seasons, they never lose in Rupp Arena.

Kentucky was hungry for a victory. They couldn’t afford to lose back-to-back home games; a loss would have made it difficult to stay in the hunt for an SEC Regular Season Title.

The Cats outplayed, outhustled, and frankly, outmatched the Vols from the opening tip. Kentucky played more aggressive causing the Vols to give up easy baskets around the rim and wide open three’s. The aggressive play even affected Tennessee’s ability to run their offensive sets or get Grant Williams the ball.

The outcome? A 17 point beatdown and Tennessee’s first loss in over 80 days.

This coming Saturday won’t be any easier. And, unfortunately for the Vols, it just got more challenging. LSU is coming off a Tuesday night loss to the Florida Gators.

Just like Kentucky, LSU hasn’t lost back-to-back home games this season. The last time they dropped back-to-back home games was last season when Alabama and Georgia won in mid-January.

Only three teams in the current top-25 rankings have lost back-to-back home games this season.

Just three!

Those teams include Villanova (17), Iowa State (19), and Wisconsin (22). There are a few teams, like Tennessee, that haven’t lost a home game at all.

Furthermore, LSU only has two losses at home, and both are by a combined six points. Their first loss came in a high scoring affair where they let Arkansas scored 90 points by shooting 13-for-24, 54.2 percent, from the three-point line. The Razorbacks ended up winning 90-89.

With the loss to Florida, LSU drops to 11-2 in the conference, tied with Kentucky for second place. Tennessee has an excellent opportunity to gain separation in the race to a regular season SEC Title. Saturday’s game will tell us a lot of this Tennessee basketball team.