Auburn Basketball: Previewing the Tennessee Volunteers

Here we take a look at Auburn basketball’s matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers on Jan. 31 following a win against TCU.

After having lost to a No. 23 South Carolina in disappointing fashion, Auburn basketball (14-7, 3-5 SEC) traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, for a rebound victory over TCU 88-80. Austin Wiley got into a beautiful rhythm by scoring a game-high 25 points on 11-13 shooting while grabbing seven rebounds. Wiley‘s performance the past two weeks has been a long time coming for these Tigers, who have yet to find their identity in scoring — despite Mustapha Heron‘s confidence to shoot on every possession.

Heron‘s performance against the Horned Frogs also allows for some recognition, finding his groove on shooting after having failed miserably against the Gamecocks. His 17 points on 7-11 shooting (63.6 percent) was needed to balance out the performance of Wiley and point guard Jared Harper, who had 13 points with four assists and three rebounds. It’s also fair to note that senior T.J. Dunans had a night that was mostly behind the scenes, leading the team in assists at seven and tied with Wiley for the lead in rebounds at seven as well.

The Tigers shot 53.7 percent from the field despite falling out from three point range at 26.7 percent. Freshman Anfernee McLemore once again went perfect from the floor, going 6-6 for 13 points to tie with Harper for third in scoring. McLemore has, once again, shown that he deserves more minutes with consideration of his efficient ability to score. It would make sense for him to take over for, say, Horace Spencer, who despite being a good complement to Wiley has not performed as well as he should.

A challenge presents itself on Jan. 31 with the Tennessee Volunteers (12-9, 4-4 SEC) coming to the Plains, who are coming off a 70-58 win over Kansas State and an upset over No. 4 Kentucky 82-80. These Volunteers have experienced losses to the now No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs and the former No. 7 North Carolina Tar Heels. These Volunteers not only play well, they have played against the best and have shown they could stand with them as well.

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Robert Hubbs III assisted the Volunteers’ upset over the Wildcats by scoring 25 points on 9-14 shooting while having seven rebounds and two assists. Hubbs has shown, along with fellow guard Grant Williams, that efficient scoring has come easily for Tennessee despite shooting 33.7 percent from three. Tennessee struggles mightily with scoring from distance, something that Auburn has grown stronger in doing. What matches their inability to shoot from beyond the arc is their ability to maximize each possession, having just nine turnovers against an incredibly talented Kentucky.

Auburn must find a way to poke the ball away from these Volunteers, and must continue to do what they’ve seemingly worked on — get Wiley the ball down low. Another focus point would be to keep a faster pace of basketball rotation, hopefully getting more shots up beyond the arc and tempting the Volunteers to do the same. Keeping Tennessee shooting bad shots will be essential to a win for the Tigers.

Next: 5 Things for Auburn Basketball

Here’s to Anfernee McLemore’s need to be on the starting lineup, and Mustapha Heron’s mindset.

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