Villanova vs Tennessee: 2021-22 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Joey Loose
Villanova and Tennessee meet at the Hall of Fame Tip-off Tournament; will it be the Wildcats or Volunteers getting a great early season victory?
TV schedule: Saturday, November 20, 1:00 pm ET. ESPNN
Arena: Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut
Early on, Villanova (2-1) has looked the part as one of the best teams in college basketball this season, even if their early record already has a blemish. The Wildcats have had a couple of solid wins over mid-majors and took a great UCLA program to overtime on the road last weekend.
The offense has been ecstatic for Villanova in the early season, with forward Brandon Slater (16.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and guard Justin Moore (19.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg) leading the way with big early performances. Guard Collin Gillespie (17.3 ppg, 3.7 apg) filled the stat-sheet in that battle with UCLA, while forward Jermaine Samuels (16.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg) has played a big role as well.
At the moment, Villanova sits at 5th in the AP Top 25 and ranks 10th in the KenPom rankings. As previously mentioned, the Villanova offense has been sensational, sitting at 3rd in offensive efficiency, though the defense still needs some work. They gave up 81 points in their most recent outing against Howard and will need to shore things up, especially defending from long range.
Across the court, Tennessee (2-0) will look to continue their solid start to the season with their first big win of the year. The Volunteers notched a pair of easy wins, knocking off a struggling Tennessee-Martin program and taking care of a decent one at East Tennessee State. While the team hasn’t really been tested yet to this point, the Volunteers are ready for this showdown in Connecticut.
It’s a bit premature to draw much from the early statistics for the Volunteers, but Tennessee has gotten solid early performances from guards Kennedy Chandler (18.0 ppg, 5.0 apg) and Santiago Vescovi (13.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg) who both had 20 points in that opening win over the Skyhawks. Don’t forget about forward Olivier Nkahmhoua (17.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg), who put up 23 points in their win over the Buccaneers.
Tennessee sits at 17th in the AP Top 25 but is up to 11th in the KenPom ratings. The Volunteers sit fifth in defensive efficiency and have certainly played solid defense to this point, albeit against inferior competition. Nevertheless, their performance over a solid ETSU team was still impressive and gives them a ton of confidence against this Villanova team.
For the Wildcats, they clearly need to get their defense in a better position, as the Volunteers will eat if they get those kinds of open looks to open up the offense. Villanova has done solid work on offense, but Tennessee poses much more of a challenge than some of their initial opponents, UCLA notwithstanding. The thing to watch is who will control the pace of this game, as Villanova likes to play a bit slower than the Volunteers.
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Two very solid-ranked teams travel to the Mohegan Sun for a pretty important early-season matchup. One thing to keep in mind is that the Wildcats have already been tested. Tennessee may have looked great against a couple of mid-majors, but Villanova took UCLA to the wire at Pauley Pavillion and are already quite battle-tested. This should be an exciting game, but these Wildcats hold a slight advantage. If their defense gets back under control, they will certainly prosper.