NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Vols now know who they'll play for their first game of the 2021 SEC Tournament. Tennessee will play a familiar opponent in Florida, who they have already faced twice this season. Florida blew out the Vols earlier in the season, while Tennessee came from behind to win in Sunday's matchup. The third game between these two teams may just be the most important, as it will decide who advances and who goes home from Nashville early.
The Vols should have one distinct advantage on Friday. Tennessee will be the fresher of the two teams, having not played since their game against Florida on Sunday. The Gators on the other hand will be playing on less than 24 hours of rest.
Vanderbilt was the underdog on Thursday when they faced Florida, but the Commodores proved to be a tough opponent for Mike White's team. It was a tie game late, and it took a tremendous performance from Florida star Tre Mann to help the Gators pull out a win. Mann finished with 22 points and seven assists, to go along with 6 rebounds. This type of performance would be noteworthy at any point, but it's particularly so heading into Friday's game because Mann didn't play in Sunday's loss to the Vols. One could certainly make the argument that if he played, it could have been a totally different ball game.
Defensively, the Vols must contain Mann. This doesn't necessarily mean he won't score, but the goal has to be to try and limit his easy chances while cutting down on how he gets his teammates involved. With as much attention as he gets, he's a willing passer and can get easy shots, especially lobs at the rim for his teammates. Two points in two points no matter who scores it. So, the Vols will need to put an emphasis on slowing every aspect of Mann's game down on Friday afternoon.
Another guy to watch out for is post player Colin Castleton. Vanderbilt did a really nice job defending him on Thursday, holding him to just eight points. The Vols don't matchup particularly well with his size at 6'11", so he could look to bounce back with a higher scoring output on Friday. As much trouble as he had offensively, he still managed to grab eight rebounds. Tennessee's post players will need to come ready to play.
One other thing to watch for is turnovers. Both of these teams have the ability to create turnovers on defense, but both can be turnover prone on the offensive end. For all of the matchups there are to watch in this game, it could simply come down to who does a better job of protecting the ball.
Offensively the Vols need to play smart and aggressive. The Florida lineup is filled with long, athletic guys who can disrupt what an offense wants to do. However, they can get caught playing a little too aggressive at times. Well-timed ball fakes and smart passes can lead to easy looks against the Gators. The Vols need to take care of the ball, as Florida could look to get out and run on long misses and steals.
Friday's game will be an early one, tipping off at 2:30 PM on ESPN.
