... We have to keep them from running up and down the court. Tennessee can play stifling defense. They're very physical and the refs let them play that way against American. So there's no reason to think that they'll be any less physical against us.
We have to body up against them on offense then. I hesitate to say the same for defense, because Howard in foul prone and he could get in trouble quick. Green was in foul trouble yesterday, so he might be a little gun-shy. If we play our style of defense, we should do fine. We haven't let teams get up and down on us or control the tempo -- except in the Drake game, and I'm sure we've learned from that experience.
Our biggest problem will be scoring. The Vols are big and fast. We're going to have to hit our jump shots. I doubt Howard will be a factor unless he draws a lot of fouls. We're going to need Veasley and Jukes to contribute to our points in the paint when they play. They're definitely strong and fast enough to battle the UT defenders. Sadly, Green probably won't be able to penetrate and score. So, we're going to need to reign down from 3-point land. If Graves and Campbell aren't hitting, we're screwed.
But, we have an X-factor. His name is Julian Betko, and he won't let this team underachieve.
I'm definitely nervous about this game, but American exposed the Vols' weaknesses and the Dawgs will definitely benefit from that. We played this team last year in the Pre-season NIT. Graves and Streicher played against Bruce Pearl when they were freshmen. We know what to expect. We just have to play our game, which relies on our excellent jump shooting.
I expect a low scoring game in the 60s, and I'll bet that Butler is with Tennessee up to the end. If we win this game, there's no reason we can't beat anyone in the country. We could be the George Mason of this tournament.
Let's hold our breaths and pray to the basketball gods for this one.
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