The Tennessee Volunteers (18-10, 9-5) head south to challenge the South Carolina Gamecocks (20-7, 9-5) for the SEC East title tonight at 7:00 EST. Woo for tipoffs that aren't at 9:00 because I'm old and need my sleep. Win this one, and it will be the Vols' first streak of three wins in a row against SEC competition. Hopefully, Wayne Chism can garner more than just fouls like he did last time against the Gamecocks. On a happier note, the team seems to be loose, and shooters Scotty Hopson and Renaldo Woolridge have recently been both gettting better and getting humbled by coach Jason Shay:
"How about a game of Pig?'' Shay offered, referring to an abbreviated game of ``Horse'' beyond the 3-point line.
Woolridge, a fun-loving freshman with an infectious smile and serious 3-point range, readily agreed.
Hopson, playing with more confidence at this stage of the season than ever, smiled and rubbed his hands together, awaiting the chance to beat his coach.
I yelled out to the players I was gonna blog about it.
Hopson smiled:"Griff's gonna write about it huh?''
That seemed fine with them.
But then Shay won the first game. And the second game. And the third game.
The players laughed through the first loss.
They tried to intimidate Shay with trash talk in the second game - Shay talked trash back, much to their disbelief and amusement, at one point running down the court after making a shot with his hands held up.
"He's out of shape,'' one of the freshman teased Shay.
"Yeah?'' Shay replied, "What's your excuse?''
Gotta love that.
Observations from the stats
South Carolina simply looks to be the better team on paper after nearly a season's worth of play. Tennessee's better from the free throw line, at rebounding and distributing the ball, and protecting the ball, but other than that, the Gamecocks just look to have the advantage in most facets of the game.
Gamecock players to watch
Devan Downey is averaging 20 points, four assists, and three steals per game. He's an undersized, speedy guard, which should be about all you need to know this season. Yeah, we did hold him to four points in the first half when we played earlier in the season, but he finished with his average.
Other Stuff
KenPom's prediction: Tennessee loses 78-81, with only a 40% chance of winning.
The line ups
Tennessee | 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. |
17.1 |
5.8 |
3.4 |
G | 30 J.P. Prince | 6-7 |
205 |
Jr. |
9.5 |
3.9 |
3.2 |
G | 32 Scotty Hopson | 6-7 |
185 |
Fr. |
9.5 |
2.5 |
1.2 |
G | 3 Bobby Maze | 6-2 |
185 |
Jr. |
8.6 |
2.5 |
3.1 |
South Carolina | Ht.
|
Wt.
|
Yr.
|
PPG
|
RPG
|
APG
|
|
F/C | 24 Mike Holmes | 6-7 |
230 |
So. |
11.0 |
7.7 |
0.4 |
F | 21 Dominique Archie | 6-7 |
200 |
Jr. |
11.3 |
6.6 |
0.9 |
F | 44 Sam Muldrow | 6-9 |
216 |
So. |
6.0
|
5.4 |
0.1 |
G | 20 Zam Fredrick | 6-0 |
203 |
Sr. |
15.5 |
2.9 |
1.8 |
G | 2 Devan Downey | 5-9 |
175 |
Jr. |
20.2 |
2.7 |
4.4 |
The stats
KEY STATS COMPARISON |
||||
Category | Rank |
Actual |
Rank |
Actual |
Scoring Offense | 26 |
78.4 |
12 |
79.9 |
Scoring Defense | 282 |
72.8 |
252 |
71.1 |
Scoring Margin | 75 |
5.7 |
41 |
8.7 |
Field-Goal Percentage | 87 |
45.6 |
84 |
45.7 |
Field-Goal Percentage Defense | 234 |
44.5 |
182 |
43.6 |
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game | 130 |
6.6 |
93 |
7.0 |
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage | 250 |
31.4 |
55 |
37.3 |
Three Pt FG Defense | 168 |
34.1 |
84 |
32.7 |
Free-Throw Percentage | 206 |
67.8 |
301 |
63.5 |
Rebound Margin | 64 |
3.3 |
240 |
-1.5 |
Assists Per Game | 20 |
16.2 |
289 |
11.1 |
Assist Turnover Ratio | 27 |
1.22 |
267 |
0.8 |
Blocked Shots Per Game | 112 |
3.6 |
39 |
4.7 |
Steals Per Game | 150 |
6.8 |
9 |
9.5 |
Turnovers Per Game | 111 |
13.2 |
169 |
14.0 |
Turnover Margin | 66 |
2.0 |
3 |
5.9 |
Personal Fouls Per Game | 226 |
19.2 |
188 |
18.6 |
PLAYERS TO WATCH | ||||||
Category | Player | Rank | Actual | Player | Rank | Actual |
Points PG | Devan Downey | 24
|
20.2
|
|||
FG% | ||||||
3-Point FG PG | ||||||
3-Point FG% | ||||||
FT % | ||||||
Rebounds PG | Wayne Chism | 71
|
8.1
|
Mike Holmes | 93
|
7.7
|
Assists PG | Devan Downey | 94
|
4.4
|
|||
Blocks PG | ||||||
Steals PG | Devan Downey | 4
|
3.1
|
|||
Assist-TO Ratio |
Bobby Maze | 73
|
1.96
|