Vanderbilt No Longer A Pushover For Tennessee
It's no secret that Vanderbilt has been a bottom-feeder in the SEC for the last half-decade. The Commodores haven't made the NCAA Tournament since the 2016-17 season and have played on day one of the SEC Tournament each year since. However, Jerry Stackhouse has started to get the program headed in the right direction and has shown that they are no longer a team to overlook.
While Tennessee has not lost to Vanderbilt since the last time the Commodores made the tournament, they have been tested recently. The last three times the two teams have met, the same has been within single digits. As Vanderbilt continues to improve as a program, Tennessee will not have the luxury of letting Vanderbilt hang around, or a loss is sure to come.
This Vanderbilt team isn't nearly as good as last year when the team finished the year at No. 64 in KenPom, but they still do some things well that the nation's best defense will need to focus on. Liam Robbins has avoided the injury bug this season and, as a result, has had a very nice bounce-back season. He leads the Commodores in scoring and rebounding and poses a good test for Tennessee's good interior defense. Robbins had 18 points the first time these teams met and shot 12 free throws in that game. This could be a game where Rick Barnes uses Jonas Aidoo more than usual, as he is a better matchup with the 7-foot Robbins.
Another key that Tennessee will have to correct from the first matchup is forcing turnovers. Vanderbilt has done a pretty good job all year taking care of the basketball and only coughed it up eight times when these two teams met in Knoxville. Tennessee could ramp up the pressure as a team that relies on turnovers more than most teams. That will fall on Zakai Zeigler and Santiago Vescovi, who are 29th and 44th in steal percentage.
Defending bigs and forcing turnovers haven't been problems this season for the Vols, but they will have to make the adjustments tomorrow. On the other side, Vanderbilt doesn't have a great defense, so this is a good spot for the offense to get back on track after the Florida and Auburn performances. If Barnes and the rest of his staff can make the adjustments from game one, they will get a double-digit win against Vanderbilt for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
You Might Also Like:
- Boo Carter, An Athletic Freak Worth Pursuing
- Derrick Henry Has Respect For Joe Milton
- Daniel Calhoun Narrows Recruitment
Join the community:
Follow Evan Crowell on Twitter: @EvanVCrowell
You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top right-hand corner of the page. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook @VolunteerCountry & follow us on Twitter at @VCountryFN.
