COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Tennessee men’s basketball team, ranked No. 6 nationally and seeded No. 2 in the NCAA tournament’s South Region, continues its run toward what it hopes will be the program’s first Final Four appearance with Sunday’s second-round game against 10th-seeded Iowa at Nationwide Arena.
Tipoff is set for 12:10 p.m. CBS will televise the game.
The Volunteers (30-5) won their first-round game against Colgate, 77-70 on Friday, while the Hawkeyes (23-11) defeated Cincinnati 79-72.
Here are three keys for the Vols entering the game with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.
1. Defend the 3: The Vols have had their struggles doing this, with nine opponents hitting at least 10 shots from behind the arc in a game this season. Interestingly enough, Tennessee is 8-1 in those games. Iowa has reached that mark 12 times this year and is 10-2 in those contests, so something will have to give. The Vols have given up 15 3-pointers in their past two games, with Auburn doing so in last Sunday’s Southeastern Conference title game. Tennessee probably doesn’t want to take a chance in letting the Hawkeyes get hot.
2. Don’t settle: The Hawkeyes will play a lot of 3-2 zone defense, which the Vols encountered a lot during Friday’s game. It caused the offense to stall and led to some bad shots, which led to some of the wide-open looks the Raiders were able to get in transition. Bad offense leads to bad defense, and the Vols are at their best when they are in their motion offense and getting everybody involved, not when players are standing around.
3. Give Grant Williams room: Part of the offensive struggles have come from force-feeding the ball into Williams while the four other Tennessee players on the court stand around and wait on a potential pass. If the Vols are hitting shots, teams won’t be able to double-team Williams, which gives him room to work. If not, teams will be able to throw extra bodies at the 6-foot-6, two-time SEC player, and the offense could be stagnant.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.
NCAA TOURNAMENT, SOUTH REGION, SECOND ROUND
No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers (30-5, No. 2 seed) vs. Iowa Hawkeyes (23-11, No. 10 seed) at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio
Time: 12:10 p.m.
TV/radio: CBS/102.3 FM
Likely lineups (with heights and scoring averages in parentheses)
TENNESSEE
Projected starters: F Kyle Alexander (6-11, 7.3); G Jordan Bone (6-3, 13.5); G Admiral Schofield (6-6, 16.3); G Lamonte Turner (6.2, 10.7); F Grant Williams (6-7, 18.7).
Key reserves: G Jordan Bowden (6-5, 10.6); F John Fulkerson (6-9, 3.3).
IOWA
Projected starters: G Jordan Bohannon (6-1, 11.4); F Tyler Cook (6-9, 14.6); F Luke Garza (6-11, 13.1); G Isaiah Moss (6-5, 9.0); G Joe Wieskamp (6-6, 11.1).
Key reserves: F Nicholas Baer (6-7, 6.8); G Connor McCaffery (6-5, 4.5).