Tennessee basketball: Vols 5 toughest potential matchups in NCAA Tournament’s South Region
Yes, the Villanova Wildcats are the worst match-up for Tennessee basketball in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Jay Wright has won two national championships in three years, and although this year’s team is not as good as last year’s it’s still a very genuine threat.
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It’s worth noting that these guys won their conference tournament. So they are on a bit of a roll. On top of that, their style of play is, in so many ways, reflective of what we’ve been talking about this entire post in terms of where Rick Barnes and the Vols struggle.
Nova focuses on playing defense all 94 feet and full-court presses, traps, and guarding the passing lanes. It’s everything that could give UT issues, but that’s not actually why they are at the top of this list.
On top of their defense, Villanova also has senior leadership and, once again, brings something with the press defense that most other teams don’t bring. They, like the Auburn Tigers, are a major threat from downtown. In fact, as usual, they are a much bigger threat from three. The Wildcats shoot 35 percent from beyond the arc, and they make over 10 three-pointers a game.
The weapons are unreal as well, five players who have hit over 25 three-pointers this season, four who have hit over 45, three who have hit over 60 and one, Phil Booth, who has hit over 90 three-pointers. The offensive threat combined with their defensive schemes makes Villanova easily the Vols’ toughest matchup in the South Region.
One thing working in UT’s favor this year is that Villanova only goes seven-deep, so they don’t have the horses to consistently apply their up-tempo style like they did last year. However, if the two teams meet, it’ll be in the Sweet Sixteen. That’ll be after four days’ rest.
Next. 5 things a national title would mean for Vols. dark
As a result, Tennessee basketball’s best hope is for Villanova to lose before the next weekend. They could definitely lose in the second round, a two-day turnaround, with their lack of depth. It would be a dream for the Vols to face the Purdue Boilermakers, the 3-seed who could face ‘Nova in the second round. They just don’t want to face Wright’s team in the Sweet Sixteen.