Tennessee Rematch at TD Arena Tomorrow

College of Charleston (7-1, 2-0)

Tennessee (3-5, 0-0)

TD Arena

Tipoff at 9pm on ESPN2

With the end of final exams in sight, the Cougars can finally get back to basketball tomorrow night as they get a chance to knock off an SEC opponent on the TD Arena floor. The last time the Vols and Cougs faced off, the senior-laden visitors opened up a 91-78 can on Bruce Pearl's squad.

Much like when these two teams played in December of last year, the Volunteers are being their usual inconsistent selves. They've shown up and played close in their losses to Duke, Memphis and Pitt but lost to both Oakland and most recently Austin Peay. Their three wins on the season have come against UNCG, ULM and Chaminade. 

The Cougars are looking to rid themselves of the bad play and poor shot selection that allowed Chatty to hang in there for 50 minutes. Cremins and company have had 10 days to prepare the team for what will probably be the marquee home game of the season and I expect both teams to come out firing. I've already seen in person how the young Cougs respond to the TD crowd. Tennessee will be looking to avenge last years loss and prove they're a legitimate, middle-of-the-road, fairly okay team in the SEC.

CofC will probably be favored in this game and they should be for two reasons.

1) It's hard for us to lose on our home court. I believe 41-6 is the official record at the new arena and you can ask USC, UNC and Dayton about the Cougars' home court advantage (dont ask Clemson or Citadel). Point is that alone will work in our favor. 

2) As has been stated in previous posts, this team goes as far as Antwaine Wiggins takes them. When his offense is clicking, the Cougars are rolling and everything sort of falls into place. When he struggles, the team looks sloppy and starts taking 48 three-pointers. But if there's one time of the year where Antwaine really gets after it, it's when he's playing the Vols. Wiggins is from Tennessee and last year he dazzled his family and friends with one of his best games. Now he gets his last chance to show the Volunteers what they're missing out on. When motivated, Antwaine can be a beast and I expect him to play his best. If he can do that, the pressure is off the rest of the team and they can do their thing. 

Like their record indicates, many of the Vols players struggle with inconsistency. From the limited highlights I've seen, they have few players who are capable of creating their own shot. The Vols regularly clog the paint and get a lot of buckets off tip ins and other types of hustle plays. When the defense eventually leaves the perimeter, the Vols have a shooter or two who can knock down the open three. Cuonzo Martin really does preach defense (especially on the road) but I don't think his team has embraced it to his liking.

Like most BCS schools, the Cougar front line will have their hands full with the bigger and stronger Tennessee forwards. However, I think the guard matchup strongly favors the Cougars. For better or worse I think the strategy for most of our OOC opponents will be to double Wiedeman and Baru (Adjehi's reputation seems to precede him). This will open up space for Stitt and Lawrence to drive and/or kick out to the perimeter.  

It's gonna be a fun game to watch on TV tomorrow night. Could be close, could be a blowout depending on what teams show up. Always good to get a quality win over an SEC school, no matter their record. Go Cougars!