After a scare against Vanderbilt, Tennessee will be looking for a nice home win to lock up the No. 1 ranking in the country going into next week. WVU has been struggling all season but picked up a huge win over No. 7 Kansas last week.
How Tennessee Can Win:
17-1 on the season? 11-0 at Home? How can’t they win? If Tennessee can stay out of foul trouble and avoid unnecessary turnovers against the press, this could be a bloodbath. Tennessee doesn’t have a ton of depth in the front-court so keeping a big WVU team off the boards will be a big factor in whether or not this is a close game.
How WVU Can Win:
Alright hear me out. Wesley Harris is a Top 5 perimeter defender in CBB quite literally took Lagerald Vick out of the Kansas game. Dude didn’t even get off the bus. If he can bother Grant Williams and WVU can win the rebounding battle, this will be a game. Beetle Bolden has been a bucket of late averaging 20 in the last 4 games. He could have a huge day.
Players to watch:
Tennessee:
Grant Williams is coming off a 43 and 8 game against Vanderbilt and can effect the game on both ends. WVU is forward heavy with a lot of players who match up well with Williams. WVU’s press allows open 3s so Tennessee will rely heavily on Admiral Schofield (2.1 3PM Per Game) in transition.
WVU:
Bolden is going to get his, but after that WVU’s offense always seems to come from someone new every game. The 6’7″ Jermaine Haley has been playing pretty well as a big PG and allows WVU to switch everything. When he’s moving the ball well on offense this is a much better team. Look for Derek Culver to draw a lot of attention in the paint.
Score Prediction:
WVU’s size and physicality could cause some problems for No. 1 Tennessee, but at the end of the day the talent level may just be too lopsided for WVU to pull off the upset in Tennessee.
The Pick: Tennessee 80-72
Against The Spread: WVU +15
