Tennessee (1-1) vs. Marshall (0-0)
Thursday, Nov. 19, 7:00 p.m. ET
Thompson-Boling Arena (21,678) • Knoxville, Tenn.
TV: SEC Network+
Probable Marshall Starters
G-Noah Frampton, 6-0, 193, FR
G-Austin Loops, 6-4, 203, JR (11.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg)
G-Brett Bowling, 6-4, 194,, SO (2.0 ppg, 0.2 rpg)
F-Ryan Taylor, 6-6, 240, RS SR, (14.1 ppg, 8.6 rpg)
F-Terrence Thompson, 6-7, 215, SO
Probable Tennessee Starters
G-Kevin Punter, 6-4, 180, SR (20.0 ppg, .560 FG%)
G-Robert Hubbs III, 6-4, 207, JR (15.5 ppg, .2.5 rpg)
G-Devon Baulkman 6-4, 200, SR (3.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg)
F-Armani Moore, 6-5, 215, SR (14.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg)
F-Derek Reese, 6-7, 230, SR (5.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg)
Setting the Table
Tennessee returns from Atlanta after a hard-fought 69-67 loss to Georgia Tech that came down to the final possession. That was a game Tennessee certainly wanted and had a very legitimate chance to get before Devon Baulkman’s 3-pointer at the end of regulation went off the mark. And while Tech can’t be confused for a college basketball elite at this point, it was a still a big, experienced team from the ACC that UT went on the road against and almost pulled off the win against.
The Vols crashed the boards, hit some big shots and really held their own in a tough early-season matchup. There was plenty to be proud of for the Vols, though they also know that in a season where every W will be cherished, they need to get back on the winning track over the next few home games especially. That starts Thursday night against a Marshall team that is making its regular-season debut.
Because of that, there isn’t a ton to say about this Marshall team so far this year, but based on an 11-21 performance in 2014-15 and an exhibition loss to Newberry College this year, this looks to be a game that the Vols should win, and win easily.
Quotable
“We’ll look at [the Georgia Tech] tape and there’ll be things that will sort of kind of make you sick because there’s things that we could control and we didn’t. That’s just maturity too.”
– Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes
3 keys for the Vols
1. Insert-your-cliche-here focus: Butch Jones and the football staff has introduced us to the world of “noon focus,” “home focus,” “laser focus” and other cliches, and the basketball team needs to pick their favorite one and take it to heart on Thursday night. It won’t be a great atmosphere, it appears to be a bad team and the Vols should take care of business in this one. But for a team still finding its way, nothing can be taken for granted. Treat this one like an SEC game and the Vols should be fine.
2. Keep crashing the boards: Tennessee knew it would take a team effort at Georgia Tech to survive on the glass, and got exactly that as all five players on the court regularly scrambled to help out in that area, even though size doesn’t work in UT’s favor. It seemed that the Vols took that for granted a bit against UNC Asheville in the opener, so keeping that underdog mindset in the paint will be important for UT going forward.
3. Keep developing secondary options: Early season results are indicating that Kevin Punter, Robert Hubbs and Armani Moore will be three players the Vols rely on this season to get the ball up and down the court and provide a lot of the scoring firepower. Who are the options behind them? This would be a good game for the likes of Devon Baulkman, Shembari Phillips and others to step up and show they can at least provide some relief for a team that is a bit short on options.
Predictions
Daniel: Tennessee 85-68
Reed: Tennessee 78-74
