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NCAA Tournament 2021: Five reasons Tennessee basketball can make Final Four

By Caleb Calhoun

Jan 16, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Victor Bailey Jr. (12) and guard Jaden Springer (11) and guard Santiago Vescovi (25) and guard Josiah-Jordan James (5) and guard Yves Pons (35) after a timeout against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the second half at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 16, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Victor Bailey Jr. (12) and guard Jaden Springer (11) and guard Santiago Vescovi (25) and guard Josiah-Jordan James (5) and guard Yves Pons (35) after a timeout against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the second half at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 26, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Santiago Vescovi (25) shoots a free throw against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the second half at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 26, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Santiago Vescovi (25) shoots a free throw against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the second half at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Free throw shooting advantage

Outside of a couple of outliers in their losses to the Florida Gators and Ole Miss Rebels, the Vols have been a consistently solid free throw shooting team all year. They shot 74.6 percent on the year, and they do a solid job of getting to the line, hitting 15 of just over 20 a game. For a team that uses two bigs, that’s actually a great percentage.

In their own bracket, Rocky Top is the sixth best free throw shooting team on the year. However, all five teams ahead of them are lower seeds. That includes the No. 16 seed Drexel Dragons, the No. 13 seed Liberty Flames, the No. 12 seed Oregon State Beavers, the No. 11 seed Syracuse Orange and the No. 7 seed Clemson Tigers.

Of those teams, only Syracuse has the size to compete with UT under the basket, and those two teams wouldn’t meet until the Elite Eight if they ever did meet. Simply put, free throw shooting puts Rick Barnes’ team in great shape to upset some of the better team in the Midwest Region.

It’s no secret that free throw shooting can make a huge difference in the NCAA Tournament. That’s a big reason for the madness that comes in March. With ever rotational player shooting better than 70 percent from the foul line, the Vols could have a huge advantage.

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