Tennessee @ LSU basketball preview; Sat. 2/23; 11 CST ESPN

After coming off a tough overtime loss at home this week against Florida where we simply did not play well, we host the #1 team in the conference Tennessee. There's probably not much to say about Tennessee this year you already dont know, they've only lost 2 games, one @ UK. They are a veteran group who have been together a few years now and play no freshmen. Barnes has turned the Tennessee program around and done a great job.

The stats listed below are from conference play only:

Tennessee Starters
C (6'11, 215) SR. Kyle Alexander - 24.2 min, 6.7 pts, 6.6 reb, 1.7 blk, 19.4 PER
PF (6'7, 236) JR. Grant Williams - 32.2 min, 18.2 pts, 7.2 reb, 2.7 ast, 1.1 stl, 1.3 blk, 30.3 PER
SF (6'6, 241) SR. Admiral Schofield - 30.0 min, 15.2 pts, 6.4 reb, 1.8 ast, 1.0 stl, 19.4 PER
SG (6'2, 195) JR. Lamonte Turner - 29.1 min, 10.6 pts, 2.1 reb, 3.2 ast, 15.6 PER
PG (6'3, 180) JR. Jordan Bone - 32.9 min, 12.6 pts, 3.5 reb, 6.6 ast, 19.9 PER

Tennessee Bench
G (6'5, 193) JR. Jordan Bowdon - 27.5 min, 13.4 pts, 2.9 reb, 1.6 ast, 1.1 stl, 23.2 PER
SF (6'6, 209) SO. Yves Pons - 10.7 min, 1.7 pts, 1.0 reb, 5.9 PER
PF (6'9, 197) SO. John Fulkerson - 9.9 min, 2.8 pts, 1.8 reb, 17.4 PER

Tennessee also plays F (6'8, 236) Derrick Walker and G (6'6, 187) Jalen Johnson some but not for much and not always so they arent a part of the main rotation.

As a team, there's not much chink in the armor to find here. They are one of the best offensive and defensive teams in the conference regardless if you look points per game or efficiencies. They grab a lot of defensive boards, but not necessarily a ton of offensive glass, mostly because they also are the #1 team in the conference from the floor at 50.5%. They don't shoot a ton of 3's, but they make them (3rd in conference in %). They are 1st in the conference from the line (Everyone hits their FTs on Tennessee's team). They are 1st in the conference in blocks. 1st in the conference in turnovers given up. Defensively it's not much different.

The starting group is headlined by SEC player of the year from 2017-18 Grant Williams. He isn't much a 3 point threat and is an undersized PF but he does just about EVERYTHING else really well. He can rebound offensively and defensively, he can handle the ball, he can score at will on you, he can even block some shots (although not a "rim protector" I'd say). Schofield is a pretty big small forward who can bully you around and is pretty good from 3. Bone is an excellent PG who takes care of the ball and gets a lot of easy assists playing with guys who can shoot and dominate around the rim who also is razor sharp from 3. Turner is their "average" starter if there is one but is the guy you need to stick like glue on around the 3 point line because he can fire them up in a hurry and make them. He also plays PG when Bone isn't. Alexander is their rim protector, rebounder basically, he doesnt provide a ton of offense, but it's easy offense in the sense that KBW also provides us. Straight up, I think this is the best starting 5 in the conference, best Top 6 too if you include...

The bench is headlined by a 6th man of the year type in Bowden. He's so efficient scoring the basketball whether it's from inside or from 3. The other 2 guys are nothing spectacular there, they tried to keep Pons in the starting lineup earlier this year but his offense is still very much developing and has struggled quite a bit in conference play. Fulkerson is a solid big to give Alexander some rest and protect the rim, nothing spectacular here but all around a solid player who can provide good relief minutes. Tennessee's bench depth is their biggest weakness, but they have a great player there in Bowden and a solid on in Fulkerson still.

This is going to be a really really tough game folks...Tennessee isn't a great matchup for us for a few good reasons, but it doesnt mean if we show up and play well we cant win. We played pretty poorly against Florida, but if we can find some 3 point shooting, and maybe get some of their starters into some foul trouble to get to their bench depth we could pull one off here. UK dismantled them because they played possibly their best game of the year. We absolutely cannot let them control the offensive glass like UF did. Reid and KBW need to play big and I'm saying Days or Williams need to show up big time off the bench for us to win this game.