Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee Preview
When
Saturday January 18
2:30 p.m. CST
I didn’t think we were allowed to play them or Kentucky at any time except Tuesday night.
Or
Memorial Gymnasium
If you sold your ticket to someone in Orange, I hope that every time you get fast food fries they are cold and not salty.
TV/Streaming
Radio
102.5 FM locally
SiriusXM 382 for Vandy Broadcast
Rankings
The V**s enter the game ranked 6th in the AP poll
Kenpom has Vanderbilt at 54 while UTjr is 5th.
The all-valuable NET rankings have Rick Barne’s team 4th, while Vandy is 42nd
Spread
How we got here
The Eastern school enters Memorial Gym Saturday afternoon 16-1 this season, with the only loss coming at Florida a week ago in a game where Tennessee fell behind early and never even had the chance to become competitive. Outside of this game, this Tennessee team has looked as perfect as possible, with Auburn probably being the only team in the country better than them at the moment. Their most recent game was at home Wednesday night against Georgia, a 74-56 victory.
It was great to see Vanderbilt play a game Wednesday night in its last-second home win over South Carolina, even though the Commodores should never have been in this position to begin with. Devin McGlockton got an offensive rebound and got the putback with the foul to secure the victory with 0.6 seconds left on Wednesday, giving the Commodore its 2nd SEC win and 14th victory of the season.
What to expect
This is a national championship caliber team that was built east of Nashville in the mountains. After losing the top scorer and the best overall player Dalton Knecht to the Los Angeles Lakers, the V** landed a highly touted transfer and Nashville native, Chaz Lanier. Lanier was this team’s leading scorer, averaging 18 points per game on 42% shooting. As is often the case with a Rick Barnes A run team, this team attacks defensively and makes it their identity. For Vanderbilt to be successful in this game, they will need to come out early and often in transition and take advantage of rhythm when they can get it.
I know at this point I’m going to sound like a broken record, but if Vanderbilt can’t make the shots thrown at them, this offense can’t go anywhere. The Dores shot 4-21 from 3 on Wednesday night, and that kind of shooting effort will knock Vandy out of the gym on Saturday. If Vandy can create turnovers, not fall behind by double digits early and make shots, expect an upset Saturday afternoon in the West End.
Chief Miller’s Prediction
74-70 Pain
We will take the basketball goal with me to the Topgolf bar for my shift after the game.
