KNOXVILLE - The Tennessee men's basketball team will visit the third-ranked - and short-handed - Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. EDT at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. ESPN will televise the game.
The Jayhawks (15-3) will be without the services of forwards Silvio De Sousa and David McCormack, who were suspended by the Big 12 for their actions during a fight in the final seconds of a home win against Kansas State on Tuesday night.
Kansas center Udoka Azubuike (35) grabs a rebound in front of Kansas State forward Makol Mawien during the first half Tuesday night in Lawrence, Kan. / AP photo by Orlin WagnerHere are three keys for the Volunteers (12-6), who are coming off back-to-back wins at Vanderbilt and against Ole Miss as they play outside of Tennessee for the first time since being routed by Georgia earlier this month:
1. Penetrate the interior depth: The losses of De Souza and McCormack don't look all that monumental on paper because the two have averaged a combined 10.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game this season. Even from the perspective of minutes averaged, their absences should not prove all that substantial. Where does it hurt the Jayhawks? Interior depth. Without the 6-foot-10 McCormack and De Sousa (6-9) - and with freshman Jalen Wilson (6-8) lost to injury two games into the season - there will be a heavy load on senior center Udoka Azubuike, who has averages of 12.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and more than two blocks per game. The Vols are used to having to play both with a small lineup and without a ton of depth this year, and they are still making their own adjustments after last week's addition of 7-foot-1 freshman Uros Plavsic. The Vols could make it interesting if they are able to expose the lack of depth in the Jayhawks' frontcourt.
Kansas guard Devon Dotson drives past Kansas State's DaJuan Gordon during the first half of Tuesday night's game in Lawrence, Kan. / AP photo by Orlin Wagner2. Defend the backcourt: It seems Kansas always has quality guards, and this season is no exception. Devon Dotson is the team's best scorer; Marcus Garrett is the team's best creator. Combined, they have averaged more than nine assists and nearly 28 points per game, and with Ochai Abgaji and Isaiah Moss they form as formidable of a backcourt as there is in the country. The Vols have started to find themselves on the defensive end of the court, but they haven't faced a challenge quite like the one ahead of them. Slowing down that quartet is nearly as big a key objective as No. 1.
3. Handle the environment: Allen Fieldhouse is always known as one of the country's toughest places to play, year in and year out. Tennessee will take a team there that is young enough and dumb enough to not be affected by the atmosphere, and there are some veteran Vols - including Jordan Bowden and John Fulkerson - who will be helped by having played in a lot of meaningful games. What happened Tuesday between the Jayhawks and the Wildcats shook the college basketball world, but no one expects the environment to be any less tough for a visiting team than in a typical game. How will the Vols handle it?
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.