After a loss to the Florida State Seminoles, Tennessee basketball closes out the Emerald Coast Classic against the VCU Rams. Here is our Volunteers preview.
They suffered their first loss of the year, in 60-57 heartbreaking fashion, Friday night against the Florida State Seminoles. Now Tennessee basketball will face the VCU Rams for the third place finish in the Emerald Coast Classic Saturday.
UT and VCU were the two top 25 teams heading into the tournament, and they both just happened to lose, as VCU lost to the Purdue Boilermakers. With the Vols at 5-1 and the Rams at 6-1, this will be a game to determine who stays in the top 25.
Rocky Top will tipoff at the same time Tennessee football kicks off its final game of the season against the Vanderbilt Commodores. Here is all the information you need for Tennessee basketball’s Saturday afternoon matchup.
No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers vs. No. 20 VCU Rams
When: Saturday, Nov. 30 at 4 p.m. ET
Where: The Arena at Northwest Florida State; Niceville, Fla.
Live stream: Emerald Coast TV online
Radio: Vol Network; Ram Radio (910 The Fan & BIG 98.5 in Richmond)
Listen online: UTSports; Radio.com/TheFanRichmond
Line: Tennessee -1
Over/Under: 131.5
This game will unfortunately not be televised. CBS Sports Network was only set to carry the semi-finals and finals matchup, but the consolation game was not set to be carried. As a result, it can only be viewed on the live stream suggestion.
VCU lost to Purdue by three, just like the Vols did to Florida State. But like UT against the Washington Huskies, they do have a quality win on the year. Theirs is against the LSU Tigers. So this looks like a game between two evenly matched teams.
Third-year head coach Mike Rhoades leads a team that went 25-8 last year and made it to the NCAA Tournament. They returned five of their top six contributors, including their top four, making them a very dangerous team.
Taking that into account, Tennessee basketball will have its hands full, especially with the way they turned the ball over in their loss to Florida State. They have a lot to prove in this matchup Saturday afternoon, as Rick Barnes still has a lot of work to do with this young team.