No. 4 Tennessee basketball travels to No. 17 South Carolina on Wednesday night for a rematch with the SEC Regular Season Championship on the line. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 with Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst) on the call.
The Vols enter the game with a one-game lead over South Carolina in the SEC standings with two games remaining in the regular season. Tennessee was one game ahead of Alabama in the standings as well, but after the Crimson Tide lost at Florida on Tuesday night, UT can now outright win the SEC with a win at South Carolina. The win would also secure the No. 1 overall seed in next week's SEC Tournament.
GoVols247's Tennessee basketball beat writer Ben McKee and senior writer Wes Rucker are in attendance atColonialLife Arena forWednesday night's matchup between the Vols and Gameco*cks. You can follow their coverage of today's contest for score updates and conversation in the link below.
***LIVE UPDATES: No. 4 Tennessee basketball at No. 17 South Carolina***
The Gameco*cks beat the Volunteers in Knoxville on Jan. 30, 63-59, as a result of a frustrating night offensively for the Vols. They shot 36% (21-of-58) from the field for the game, 24% (5-of-21) from three and was 12-of-20 (60%) at the free throw line after not attempting their first free throw until the 16:10 mark of the second half.
South Carolina forced Dalton Knecht into an inefficient night despite the Vols' star guard scoring 31 points, 15 of which coming over the final 8:18 of the game with the Vols trailing. Knecht finished 11-of-24 from the floor and 3-of-8 from three after making one of his first five three-point attempts. He was 6-of-10 at the free throw line and grabbed seven rebounds.
Santiago Vescovi was able to chip in 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, but the fifth-year guard was the only other Vol in double-figures, as it was a tough night at the office for junior forward Jonas Aidoo and junior point guard Zakai Zeigler.
Aidoo scored six points on 2-of-8 shooting while battling foul trouble. He grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots in 20 minutes of action. Zeigler was 0-of-5 from the field as he scored a season-low two points. He dished out three assists and turned it over twice while going 0-for-4 from three and 2-of-4 at the free throw line.
Here's what Vols coach Rick Barnes said about South Carolina when he met with the media on Tuesday afternoon to preview the matchup and discuss what went wrong in UT's loss to South Carolina.
What stands out about the loss to South Carolina when he watches the film:
“Well, one, how well they're coached. A team that doesn't commit a lot of mistakes. A team that knows exactly what they're looking for. A team that can very quickly exploit the matchups that they want to get if you do a lot of switching and they get you in a position where they can get the switch they want. They took great advantage of it here in a lot of different ways. But just extremely fundamental, plays the pace that they want to play with. And Lamont (Paris) has done just an incredible job. One of the great jobs coaching jobs, not just this year, but as long as I've been in basketball, watching what he's done and the way he's turned it around and where they are today. And they’re got good players, don’t make no bones about (it), they've got good players. You wouldn't be able to be where they are today in this league because it's, again, we've talked about how competitive it is in this league. It may be the most competitive ever. For them to be playing for a championship, speaks volumes not only about the players, but also the coaching staff.”
If this South Carolina team reminds him of his 2017-18 Tennessee team that went from picked 13th in the preseason to winning a share of the SEC regular-season championship:
“I do. And they understand each other's roles is what I think is what's really impressive about them. They understand each other's ability and what they need to do and where they need to get. And some older guys have been around, but again, they've done just a great job of doing that, believing in the system for one, and then believing in themselves and now they've got a lot of belief because of, again, having just an incredible year and a great year. And it's impressive with where they were, where they finish up. It just shows you that they didn't buy into any of that. It was all about them, what they were trying to get done. And again, during the last week of the regular season, fighting for a championship.”
How much it helps this Tennessee team to play a tough four-game stretch leading into the postseason:
“I think this time of year it is all about trying to build momentum. And I said all along, you're going to learn from every game — something. You hope to win games and learn that way. But with the regular season (ending) and the conference tournament ahead, there's a lot that can still be learned. We all need to continue to get better. But yeah, I think great competition always helps you late in the year.”
If this Tennessee team has been different since the loss to South Carolina at home on January 30:
“I don't know. We've been in a lot of hard fought basketball games. And our league is, again, I know everyone talks about how good their leagues are and it's true. Conference play is tough in any league. I don't care what numbers and all this say, I mean, you go on the road or you play at home and every league is tough and demanding. But our team, I think we've tried to get better. As you guys have been with us from the beginning, I know we've talked about consistency, we've talked about rebounding, ball screen out a lot of different things. And the kids, I think that we’ve still tried to improve as the season goes on. And I would tell you we’re going to court today with that in mind, knowing that we've got to (have) a mindset that we can really try to get our game plan in and know we we’re going to have to execute it, but also things that we know we've got to get better with, we've got to try to get better with.”
On South Carolina hitting corner threes against Tennessee the first game:
“We got to play better, obviously in a lot of different areas, but their execution was good and we've go to do a better job with everything we talk about every game. You know, whether it's transition defense, executing in our half-court defense, offensively, do what we need to do there. You go back. I mean it's another game. They're better than they were here. We're better than we were here too. But it's going to be a great atmosphere, great crowd, and it should be. They deserve it. They've earned it, but there's not one part that we're going to have to do everything. And again, it's gonna be another 40 minutes and we're going to have to be better.”
What’s been different about Jahmai Mashack since the loss to South Carolina:
“The last couple games, I thought his defense has gotten back to an elite level and I think his focus has been the biggest thing. I don't think there's any question it’s his mindset. Knowing again what he's great at, trying to play to that. I think he's really relaxed on offense and not thinking, I gotta do this, I gotta do that. He's let it come to him and he's made some great decisions in the last couple games and we just hope that he can keep building on it. Because when he's locked in like that, it just gives us, really a great weapon to have.”
