Tennessee basketball is back on the road for its penultimate game of the regular season as they face Ole Miss on Wednesday night.
The Vols are red-hot, winning seven of their last eight games and in the hunt for their first ever one-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Ole Miss ended a three-game losing streak with a win over Oklahoma on Saturday and is looking to boost its SEC and NCAA Tournament seeding.
Here’s three things to watch for in the SEC showdown.
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Can Tennessee Stay Close In The Turnover Battle?
Ole Miss is truly elite in one area— its ability to win the turnover battle. The Rebels 12.3% turnover rate is the third best in the entire country and they’ve turned it over at even lower rate in SEC play. On the other side, Ole Miss is forcing turnovers on 20.8% of its opponents possessions, a mark that ranks 28th nationally.
Tennessee is good at forcing turnovers per usual though they’re not great. They have had off-and-on turnover problems all season and that’s particularly plagued them early in games when they’ve gotten off to slow starts.
The Vols don’t need to win the turnover battle against Ole Miss. Obviously, that would be massive but it’s probably a bit too much to ask given how good the Rebels are there. But Tennessee needs to make sure they don’t get blown out there.
Will Tennessee Exploit Ole Miss Rebounding Woes?
While Ole Miss is great at winning the turnover battle, they’re bad at winning the rebounding battle. The Rebels are a bad defensive rebounding team and a dreadful offensive rebounding team.
Tennessee has been good on the glass this season but lost the rebounding battle in each of its last two games. Assistant coach Gregg Polinsky emphasized the need to rebound better while meeting with the media on Tuesday and this game presents that opportunity.
What could be a key stat in this game is the margin that Tennessee wins the offensive rebounding battle compared to the margin that Ole Miss wins the turnover battle. If the Vols come out positive there then they will be in good shape.
Multiple Reasons To Watch Chaz Lanier
Chaz Lanier has been the go-to scorer for Tennessee basketball all season, and there’s a number of reasons to be watch Lanier in this game. Tennessee is 17-0 in games the star shooting guard has scored 18-plus points and Lanier has seemingly turned a corner as of late.
In the Vols’ four-game winning streak, Lanier has averaged 20.8 points per game. After struggling on the road early in SEC play, Lanier has turned in a stellar 30-point performance at Texas A&M and a solid 14-point performance at LSU on five-of-11 shooting from the field.
Whether Lanier can keep it up and have another strong game on the road against a good defensive team will be worth watching. Lanier can also become Tennessee’s third ever player to make 100 three-pointers in a single season, joining Santiago Vescovi and Chris Lofton, if he makes just one triple.
