Tennessee-Missouri Quarterfinals Preview

The Tennessee Volunteers will get their shot at revenge in a rematch with Missouri in the second round of the SEC Tournament.

Heartbreak. Regression. Devastation. Those are just three words you can use to describe Tennessee's loss on February 11th to Missouri. A DeAndre Gholston buzzer-beater three gave the Tigers the win and ended up being the reason Tennessee didn't get the double-bye. Now, nearly a month later, Tennessee will get its chance at revenge to go to the semis.

To start, Tennessee cannot get into the game they played against Missouri the first time. The Vols will rarely win a game where both teams are just making a ton of shots. They must muck the game up to an extent and run Missouri's shooters off the three-point line.

Guarding threes against Missouri, however, will always be easier said than done. The Tigers are littered with high-volume shooters, some of which shoot near or above 40% from three. Dennis Gates' style is designed to get the Tigers threes in transition, and the players have bought into the system.

Speaking of Dennis Gates' system, Missouri will try to speed Tennessee up. It is a team that relies heavily on forcing turnovers and playing fast. The Vols lost the turnover battle 10-7 when these teams met, and scoring 86 points against Tennessee is almost impossible unless you're able to play fast.

Lastly, with Tennessee being forced to play Santiago Vescovi at point guard, I expect Missouri to try to blitz ball screens more often than you would usually see from a team. Vescovi looked cool and collected in Tennessee's half-court offense today, leading to a great game. With Missouri's turnover dependency, a switch at point guard is a ripe opportunity.

I expect the game tomorrow to be much more low scoring. It should be noted that Rick Barnes said that Tennessee's preparation on a one-day scout doesn't change much, as that is how they usually operate anyway. If his words are true, we will get a helluva coaching chess match tomorrow to go to the semis.

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