Another highly-anticipated SEC showdown pits Tennessee against Auburn on Saturday night; will the Volunteers put together a sensational performance or do the Tigers keep rolling at home?
TV schedule: Saturday, January 25, 8:30 pm ET. ESPN
Arena: Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama
The work at Tennessee (17-2) has been brilliant in the first few months of this college basketball season, but Rick Barnes has in general built a great program. The Volunteers ran off a 14-0 start to the season and topped the national polls before suffering a pair of losses recently in SEC Play. This team has won several impressive games away from home, though Saturday’s tilt is a significant challenge.
While known for elite defense, the Volunteers have gotten the job done on offense too, starting with Chaz Lanier (18.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg) leading the charge. The North Florida transfer has assumed a vital role in this offense despite some struggles in recent weeks. Tennessee’s strength clearly lies in that defense and Zakai Zeigler (12.2 ppg, 7.6 apg) plays a major role in running the show on both sides of the ball. Fellow senior guard Jordan Gainey (11.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg) has also had quite the productive season on both ends.
Tennessee is #6 in the AP Top 25, 6th in KenPom, and 4th in the most recent NET rankings. That mighty defense is 3rd in efficiency and has given up the 3rd fewest points this season. There have been days when the shots aren’t falling for the Volunteers, especially in that rough one at Florida, but the defense has played at a high level throughout the season, limiting great teams like Baylor, Illinois, and Louisville this year.
On the other end, Auburn (17-1) has had a lot of things go right in a season that looks like it might not end until early April. The Tigers have played sensational basketball all season long, stockpiling wins over Houston, Iowa State, Purdue, and a number of other solid programs and have done great work recently without injured star Johni Broome.
There’s a chance we see Broome (17.9 ppg, 10.7 rpg) back in action on Saturday and his presence would clearly be enormous, as he’s emerged as one of the nation’s best all-around players. In his stead, the Tigers will need even more production from players like Chad Baker-Mazara (13.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.5 apg), the transfer guard who’s become a reliable weapon this season for the Volunteers. Freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford (12.0 ppg, 2.7 apg) is living up to any and all preseason hype and has made nearly 44% of his 3-pointers.
This powerful Auburn squad is #1 in the AP Top 25 and sit atop the NET rankings, though they’re 2nd in KenPom behind only the Duke team that they lost to on the road nearly two months ago. This is the most efficient offense team in the nation, while that defense has had some remarkable outings as well, with great showings in most of those notable wins. This is the best shotblocking team in the nation and really will shine when Broome returns.
Even without Broome in the lineup, these Tigers are a force to be reckoned with as we saw last week. This team has survived three tough road games in SEC play already and are much more than just Broome’s contributions. Tennessee’s defense has been elite but will have to play at another level against this elite offense regardless of who’s lining up for Auburn.
Lanier needs to put the ball in the basket and he can’t be the only one showing up for the Volunteers if they’re going to pull this upset off in Auburn. As important as it is for them to slow down the Tigers, they’ll need to make shots to stay in this one on the road. We’ve seen Auburn bludgeon people and we’ve seen Tennessee take a beating in recent weeks, though we don’t think this game will get that bad. Still the advantage is clearly towards the Tigers.
Prediction: Auburn 74, Tennessee 65