Tennessee and Kentucky begin a new era of its basketball rivalry on Tuesday night as first-year coach Mark Pope faces off against Rick Barnes and the Vols for the first time.
Both teams enter the rivalry matchup after losses on the road over the weekend and are looking for big bounce back wins.
Here’s three key aspects to pay attention to in the top 15 showdown.
Will Tennessee’s Ball Pressure Give Kentucky Issues?
Kentucky has been good at taking care of the basketball this season but facing Tennessee’s ball pressure is a different beast. Combine that with the fact that Kentucky starting point guard Lamont Butler is out for the game while backup Kerr Kriisa remains sidelined with an injury and you have a real recipe for Kentucky to struggle taking care of the basketball.
The Wildcats’ options at point guard aren’t great. They can either play shooting guards Otega Oweh or Jaxson Robinson at the point guard spot or play freshman Travis Perry. The options being two scoring guards who average less than two assists per game and a true freshman playing 6.3 minutes per game is not overly promising for Kentucky.
Look for the Vols to turn up the ball pressure to another level and make it difficult for Kentucky to get into its offensive sets.
Can Tennessee Have More Success Scoring At The Rim?
Tennessee’s offense has been inconsistent at best in SEC play and its biggest issue has been its inability to score at the basket.
The Vols 43.5% shooting percentage from two-point range is the worst in the SEC in conference play. Scoring 43.4% of their SEC points from two-point range ranks 15th out of 16 in the conference. It’s an area where Tennessee badly needs to improve.
This is the game for them to break out of that struggle. Kentucky has the SEC’s worst two-point defense with conference opponents shooting 58.5% from inside the arc against them. Kentucky’s opponents have shot a lot of three-pointers but when they look to score at the rim they have.
Kentucky’s defense has been bad in SEC play. This is a perfect chance for Tennessee’s offense to have a breakout game.
Will Tennessee Get More From Igor Milicic And Chaz Lanier?
If Tennessee’s offense is going to return to its efficiency from earlier in the season then they need to get more from veteran transfers Chaz Lanier and Igor Milicic. In SEC play, Lanier is averaging 14.9 points and Milicic is averaging 8.6 points per game.
Milicic is one of Tennessee’s best options to score at the basket and Lanier is its leading scorer who can get going from three-point range at any moment.
The lackluster Kentucky defense will give Tennessee plenty of opportunities offensively. Tennessee needs both Lanier and Milicic to play well to fully take advantage of its opportunities.