Round No. 2.
Tennessee is set to face in-state rival Vanderbilt once again on Saturday night, this time in Knoxville. The Volunteers beat the Commodores, 75-62, just three weeks ago in Nashville. Tennessee now sits at 18-6 overall, improving to 8-3 in conference play after blowing out Arkansas in the midweek.
Vanderbilt has found a couple of conference wins since their first loss to Tennessee. The ‘Dores beat Missouri a couple of weeks back, then stunned Texas A&M at the buzzer this week. Overall, Vanderbilt is 7-17, but they have shown flashes of life recently.
“I think getting your guys to lock back in, to get them to understand that there are some changes,” Tennessee assistant Gregg Polinsky said on Friday. “I mean, Vanderbilt is playing better. They led South Carolina at the half. If South Carolina doesn’t have a few guys step up and make some key threes in that game, Vanderbilt’s there the whole way. Coach (Barnes) will say this, Coach (Jerry) Stackhouse probably runs as good an offense as anybody in this league, at the high end. They’re going to tweak what they do, they’re not going to show you the same thing.”
KenPom ranks Vanderbilt 197th in the country, while Tennessee remains at No. 6. The Commodores gave the Vols a first-half scare a few weeks ago. In Knoxville now, can the ‘Dores match that effort?
How to watch Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Time: 6 p.m. ET
TV Channel: SEC Network
Streaming: Watch ESPN, ESPN App
Odds: Tennessee -20