Do you know the greatest things about in-state rivalries? When they go right, it sways recruiting, pumps up the fans, and more importantly shows who runs the state. Should everything go right, we should be having a big orange party come Saturday night.
This could/should get out of hand at some point. That’s what great teams do isn’t it? Find a way to win and remind others they’re on a different level? This is a good chance to show all those things and more by doing what your supposed to do. Memphis is 5-4, be it on a 2 game winning streak, and they have looked far from invincible. Freshman guard Tyler Harris leads the Tigers with 16.2 ppg, but should be worn down over the course of the game by the stifling defense of the Vols.
Grant should get involved early and often next week seeing as he was a little quieter than his normal self against the Zags. If you watched the game you know he checked out with less 3 minutes left to play, and then the Admiral then shouldered the rest of the offensive burden, and the rest was history.
I’d like to see Jordan Bowden or Jordan Bone either one, put together a solid scoring performance against the Tigers. If Tennessee has any weakness, it’s in the inconsistency at guard play, and they know that. Bowden hit a 3 late in the game, but struggled to score posting 11 in 30 minutes. He did shoot 3/7 from deep, but he and Bone went a combined 6/23 for 16 points.
Down the stretch, Someone will need to step up if this team wants to finish this season off with some jewelry. Tourney play is a different animal although this Saturday had a March feeling to it. At some point, someone will be able to limit Grant and Admiral and we are going to need our guards to get the job done. Look for them to play aggressive and try to find a rhythm from deep early, while keeping Grant active as well. Schofield proved against Gonzaga he can be called in to spark the offense if need be, and little brother shouldn’t keep it too close. Vols by a Hundred, take’em out to the ole’ woodshed!
