Tennessee Tech, 5-6, enters their contest against the Vols coming off a fourth place finish in the San Juan Shootout. The Golden Eagles last took the court last Thursday against the University of Central Florida, losing by a score of 73-66. Tech is led by guards Belton Rivers and Anthony Fisher, averaging 18.6 and 17.9 points per game respectively. They are accounting for 83% of the Golden Eagles three pointers, and take 47% of the team’s shots. Tech likes to play 8-9 guys a game at 10 plus minutes. The Golden Eagles are led by Amadi McKenzie down low. McKenzie is scoring 12 points per game and pulling in 8.6 rebounds per game. Tech has averaged 16 turnovers a game thus far this season. The Golden Eagles have a RPI of 183, having played the 135th hardest strength of schedule. They are 1-1 against the Top 50 in the RPI, beating Bradley 86-84 in Cookeville and losing at Kansas State early in the season 101-79. Compare that to the Vols who have a RPI of 14, having played the 27th hardest schedule in the country. The are 3-2 against the Top 50 RPI, with wins against Oklahoma State (11), Memphis (23), and Western Kentucky (46), and losses to Butler (4) and North Carolina (6).
KEYS TO THE GAME:
The Vols are coming off a tough stretch of games in which they were able to come away unscathed. Tennessee Tech, on the other hand, comes into this game having lost two of three in the San Juan Shootout. The Vols will look to build off the momentum they sustained before the Christmas break. This is a scary game for the Vols given that they are coming off the break and have played so well lately. The Vols are still trying to replace starting point guard Jordan Howell. They had a huge step in the right direction against Texas, with Ramar Smith playing 38 minutes with 9 assists and 0 turnovers. Bruce Pearl will be looking for the same kind of production from Smith as he continues to learn on the job. Pearl will probably be looking to rest Dane Bradshaw some in the next two games, hoping to get him some rest going into the SEC season. This will mean that Pearl will be relying on Wayne Chism and Duke Crews to continue to improve their games. Chism played his best game by far as a Vol against Texas and will try to build of that. If the Vols come back from Christmas Break enthused and focused, then this game really shouldn’t be close. But never underestimate a mid major school. Bruce Pearl will be the first person to tell you that.
Projected Starting Lineups:
Tennessee Tech
PG – 6’2” #2 Anthony Fisher
SG – 6’4” #1 Belton Rivers
SF – 6’4” #24 Rashaud Nixon
PF – 6’7” #10 Amadi McKenzie
C – 6’7” #42 Jonathan Jones
Tennessee
PG – 6’2” #12 Ramar Smith
SG – 6’2” #5 Chris Lofton
SF – 6’2” #2 JaJuan Smith
PF – 6’4” #23 Dane Bradshaw
C – 6’7” #32 Duke Crews
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