SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: Tennessee at Vanderbilt

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Tennessee visits Vanderbilt on Saturday in a key SEC basketball matchup. Look inside for a preview of the game along with a prediction of the game’s final score.

By 14Powers Hoops

Team Statistical Comparison

	FG%	3PT%	FT%	ORB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
Tennessee	0.419	0.310	0.741	165	592	240	96	92	225
Tennessee OPP	0.391	0.344	0.669	156	541	164	120	50	217
Vanderbilt	0.458	0.369	0.665	150	538	215	114	67	214
Vanderbilt OPP	0.456	0.352	0.713	158	560	203	93	40	227

Statistical Leaders

Tennessee Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Jordan Bowden	Tennessee	11.8	65.0	32	27
John Fulkerson	Tennessee	11.1	69.0	39	0
Yves Pons	Tennessee	10.9	67.0	25	16
Josiah-Jordan James	Tennessee	8.3	45.0	22	20
Olivier Nkamhoua	Tennessee	4.3	31.0	6	1
Davonte Gaines	Tennessee	3.1	11.0	22	3
Jalen Johnson	Tennessee	3.0	15.0	8	10
Drew Pember	Tennessee	2.1	6.0	10	3

Tennessee Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Josiah-Jordan James	Tennessee	19	75	94	5.9
John Fulkerson	Tennessee	27	58	85	5.3
Yves Pons	Tennessee	23	60	83	5.2
Jordan Bowden	Tennessee	7	59	66	4.1
Olivier Nkamhoua	Tennessee	27	37	64	4.0
Jalen Johnson	Tennessee	8	24	32	2.0
Davonte Gaines	Tennessee	7	19	26	1.7
Drew Pember	Tennessee	8	11	19	1.6

Vanderbilt Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Aaron Nesmith	Vanderbilt	23.0	105.0	52	60
Saben Lee	Vanderbilt	15.8	90.0	53	20
Scotty Pippen Jr.	Vanderbilt	10.8	47.0	63	15
Maxwell Evans	Vanderbilt	7.9	45.0	19	18
Dylan Disu	Vanderbilt	5.7	29.0	13	20
Ejike Obinna	Vanderbilt	3.9	25.0	9	0
Jordan Wright	Vanderbilt	3.9	21.0	17	3
Matthew Moyer	Vanderbilt	1.9	11.0	5	3

Vanderbilt Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Dylan Disu	Vanderbilt	18	73	91	5.7
Aaron Nesmith	Vanderbilt	11	57	68	4.9
Ejike Obinna	Vanderbilt	23	29	52	3.5
Saben Lee	Vanderbilt	9	46	55	3.4
Maxwell Evans	Vanderbilt	11	38	49	3.1
Scotty Pippen Jr.	Vanderbilt	10	39	49	3.1
Jordan Wright	Vanderbilt	13	21	34	2.1
Matthew Moyer	Vanderbilt	6	25	31	1.9

NCAA RPI

Tennessee: 72

Vanderbilt: 136

Tennessee Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Davonte Gaines	G	6′-7″	178	FR	Buffalo, NY
1	Lamonte Turner	G	6′-2″	187	SR	Florence, AL
3	Drew Pember	F	6′-9″	207	FR	Knoxville, TN
4	Jacob Fleschman	G	6′-3″	176	JR	Austin, TX
5	Josiah-Jordan James	G	6′-6″	208	FR	Charleston, SC
10	John Fulkerson	F	6′-9″	212	JR	Kingsport, TN
12	Victor Bailey Jr.	G	6′-4″	186	JR	Austin, TX
13	Jalen Johnson	G	6′-6″	196	JR	Durham, NC
21	Olivier Nkamhoua	F	6′-8″	224	FR	Cumberland, MD
23	Jordan Bowden	G	6′-5″	193	SR	Knoxville, TN
30	Brock Jancek	F	6′-8″	222	SO	Knoxville, TN
33	Zach Kent	F	6′-11″	235	SO	Magnolia, DE
34	Uros Plavsic	F	7′-0″	240	FR	Chattanooga, TN
35	Yves Pons	G	6′-6″	215	JR	Paris, FR

Vanderbilt Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Saben Lee	G	6′-2″	183	JR	Phoenix, AZ
1	Dylan Disu	F	6′-9″	220	FR	Pflugerville, TX
2	Scotty Pippen Jr.	G	6′-1″	170	FR	Los Angeles, CA
3	Maxwell Evans	G	6′-2″	190	JR	Houston, TX
4	Jordan Wright	G	6′-5″	226	FR	Baton Rouge, LA
5	D.J. Harvey	G	6′-6″	235	SO	Bowie, MD
10	Drew Weikert	G	6′-0″	170	SO	Nashville, TN
13	Matthew Moyer	F	6′-8″	229	JR	Gahanna, OH
14	Isaiah Rice	G	5′-11″	195	JR	Indianapolis, IN
15	Clevon Brown	F	6′-8″	232	SR	San Antonio, TX
20	Trace Arbuckle	G	6′-2″	170	JR	Carmel, IN
21	Jon Jossell	G	5′-9″	160	SR	Arcadia, OK
24	Aaron Nesmith	F	6′-6″	213	SO	Charleston, SC
42	Quentin Millora-Brown	F	6′-10″	229	FR	Lorton, VA
50	Ejike Obinna	F	6′-10″	243	SO	Enugu, Nigeria
55	Oton Jankovic	F	6′-10″	212	FR	Napa, CA

Scouting Report

Tennessee (10-6, 2-2 SEC) fell to Georgia 80-63 on Wednesday night in Athens. The Vols fell behind early 8-3 but were able to battle back and take a 10-8 lead with Jordan Bowden jump shot with 14:47 to play in the first half. However, Georgia would re-take the lead and extended its lead to 26-19 with 8:51 to play in the first half. With 2:36 to play in the half a Tyree Crump 3-point shot extended the Bulldog lead to 40-23. The Dogs would have a comfortable 47-28 lead at halftime. In the second half Georgia quickly extended its lead to 20 and would keep that lead or more for most of the remainder of the game. The Vols were led in scoring by Bowden with 12. Georgia’s Anthony Edwards led all scorers with 26 points. Edwards made 5 of 10 shots from 3-point range. Forward Rayshaun Hammonds added 21 points. Georgia won this game with 3-point shooting making 10 of 23 shots to Tennessee’s 6 of 26 shots. Georgia also made seven more free throws than the Vols.

Guard Jordan Bowden leads Tennessee in scoring (11.8 ppg) followed by forward John Fulkerson (11.1 ppg). Bowden is the team’s top 3-point shooting threat with 27 made 3-point shots. 6-foot-6 Josiah-Jordan James is the team’s top rebounder (5.9 rpg). Tennessee is 13th in the SEC in scoring offense (66.3 ppg) and second in the league in scoring defense (60.6 ppg). The Vols are 13th in the league in 3-point shooting accuracy (31.0%) and 13th in the conference in field goal shooting (41.9%). The Vols are also second in the conference in blocked shots (5.8 bpg) and are tied with Georgia for first assists (15.0 apg).

Vanderbilt (8-8, 0-3 SEC) was defeated by Arkansas 75-55 on Wednesday in Fayetteville. Vanderbilt, the heavy underdogs, competed well early and even led 17-14 with 11:18 remaining in the half on a Dylan Disu dunk. However, Arkansas re-took the lead at 18-17 with 9:52 remaining in the first half. In the latter part of the first half the Razorbacks would lead by as much as nine before heading to halftime on top 34-28. In the second half with 16:07 remaining the Hog lead reached double digits at 43-33 after back-to-back made 3-point shots by Isaiah Joe. Vanderbilt repeatedly left the area around the basket wide open for easy layups and dunks by the Razorbacks. Offensively, the Commodore’s conditioning appeared questionable as shooting accuracy dropped off significantly in the second half. Guard Saben Lee led Vandy in scoring with 17 points. Arkansas guard Jimmy Whitt Jr. led all scorers with 30 points. Whitt was the main beneficiary of Vandy’s pathetic defense inside as all but two of his points came from field goals. Vandy hit just 12 of 22 free throws (54.5%). The Hogs were even worse from the line making just 8 of 15 (53.3%). Both teams struggled from 3-point range making 25% (5 for 20) each.

Vanderbilt recently lost its leading scorer, Aaron Nesmith, indefinitely to injury. He was the leading scorer in the SEC. With Nesmith out, Saban Lee is the team’s second leading scorer (15.8 ppg). Freshman guard Scotty Pippen Jr is the team’s second leading scorer (10.8 ppg).

The Commodores are tied at 12th with Georgia in scoring defense allowing 73.2 points a contest. Vandy is fifth in the league in scoring (75.9 ppg). The Commodores shoot well from the 3-point range (1st, 36.6%) and field goal range (4th, 45.8%). Vandy is 13th in the league in rebounding margin (-1.2) but a better sixth in turnover margin (+0.8) and assist to turnover ratio (6th, 1.0). Although the Commodores struggle at stopping opponents from scoring, they do get steals and are sixth in the SEC in that stat category (7.1 spg).

This is a rivalry game. Vandy is thin losing its top scorer and best big man. Depth is also an issue along with conditioning. Vanderbilt looked gassed against Arkansas in the second half and couldn’t throw it in the ocean. Tennessee probably wins this game. They are deeper and better coached.

Tennessee-Vanderbilt Prediction

Tennessee 78, Vanderbilt 72

Saturday‘s game tips off at 6:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. CT). TV: SEC Network.