Tennessee Volunteers vs. Alabama Crimson Tide: game preview

The Tennessee Volunteers (19-10, 10-5) come home to Thompson-Boling for their last home game of the season Sunday at high noon against the Alabama Crimson Tide (16-13, 6-9). The NCAA bid that seemed like a stretch a mere two weeks ago is pretty much in the bag now, but this game could do wonders from a consistency, confidence, momentum, and seeding standpoint, and gives fans the opportunity to show their appreciation for the team's persistence through a challenging season.

Observations from the stats

From looking at the numbers, Alabama appears to be better on defense and from behind the arc on offense, but the stats, of course, don't account for trends, and the Vols are improving on both counts. There does appear to be some blockers and thieves in Crimson, though, so watch out for them.

Tide players to watch

JaMychal Green is the block shot specialist, averaging 1.6 of Alabama's 4.7 per game.

Senario Hillman is the burglar, averaging nearly two steals per game. He's also a speedy, short guard, just so you know.

Other Stuff

KenPom's prediction: Tennessee wins, 80-68 , with an 86% chance of closing out the regular season with a home court victory.

The line ups

		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
C	4 Wayne Chism	6-9	242	Jr.	13.3	8.1	1.3
F	1 Tyler Smith	6-7	215	Jr.	17.3	5.8	3.6
G	30 J.P. Prince	6-7	205	Jr.	9.9	4.1	3.1
G	32 Scotty Hopson	6-7	185	Fr.	9.3	2.5	1.2
G	3 Bobby Maze	6-2	185	Jr.	8.6	2.4	3.2
		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	40 Justin Knox	6-9	240	So.	5.8	5.2	0.5
F	32 JaMychal Green	6-9	220	Fr.	10.2	7.4	0.7
G	21 Senario Hillman	6-1	192	So.	13.2	2.6	2.2
G	12 Alonzo Gee	6-6	219	Sr.	15.0	7.3	1.3
G	2 Mikhail Torrance	6-5	210	Jr.	9.4	2.4	2.3

The stats

KEY STATS COMPARISON
Category	Rank	Actual	Rank	Actual
Scoring Offense	22	78.7	82	73.6
Scoring Defense	282	72.7	219	69.9
Scoring Margin	68	6.0	121	3.8
Field-Goal Percentage	77	45.9	141	44.3
Field-Goal Percentage Defense	230	44.4	54	40.8
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game	138	6.6	271	5.0
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage	248	31.7	199	33.2
Three Pt FG Defense	184	34.4	48	31.8
Free-Throw Percentage	199	68.0	160	69.2
Rebound Margin	52	3.9	83	2.9
Assists Per Game	19	16.3	268	11.5
Assist Turnover Ratio	26	1.23	261	0.81
Blocked Shots Per Game	103	3.8	41	4.7
Steals Per Game	169	6.6	85	7.5
Turnovers Per Game	119	13.2	188	14.2
Turnover Margin	74	1.8	134	0.4
Personal Fouls Per Game	223	19.1	75	17.1

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Category	Player	Rank	Actual	Player	Rank	Actual
Points PG	Tyler Smith	95	17.3
FG%
3-Point FG PG
3-Point FG%
FT %
Rebounds PG	Wayne Chism	75	8.1
Assists PG
Blocks PG				JaMychal Green	90	1.6
Steals PG				Senario Hillman	97	1.8
Assist-TO Ratio	Bobby Maze	80	1.92