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March Madness: 5 reasons Vols could lose to Purdue in Sweet 16

By Caleb Calhoun

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - MARCH 21: Matt Haarms #32 and Carsen Edwards #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers celebrate after a play in the second half against the Old Dominion Monarchs during the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - MARCH 21: Matt Haarms #32 and Carsen Edwards #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers celebrate after a play in the second half against the Old Dominion Monarchs during the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images /

4. Tennessee is prone to playing horrible for long stretches. 

The Vols gave up a 16-point lead to the Colgate Raiders in the first round and a 25-point lead to the Iowa Hawkeyes. They have been bad about this all year, even in their 19-game winning streak when they spent four weeks at No. 1.

Often times, 20-point leads turned into 12-point victories. Double-digit halftime leads like against the Vanderbilt Commodores and Alabama Crimson Tide turned into one-possession victories. Other times, a very bad stretch broke open a close game.

Usually these horrible stretches happen to the Vols as they come out of the locker room to start the second half. It’s why the Auburn Tigers beat them in the regular season and then blew them out in the SEC Tournament. This also got them blown out by the Kentucky Wildcats.

What do you think could happen to them against a really good team in March Madness with that issue? Well, Purdue is a really good team. They are only slightly less efficient than the Vols on offense and slightly more efficient on defense.

These teams are evenly matched enough that such an issue could wreck the Vols. You could see them end up losing by 20 as a result of a long, bad stretch. At the same time, you could see them blowing a huge lead and this time, unlike Iowa or Colgate, losing. Against Tennessee, teams trailing can calmly run their system to come back because of that. And it’s a huge problem.

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