SEC Men’s Basketball Preview: No. 13 LSU Hosts No. 5 Tennessee in SEC Regular-Season Title Decider

This weekend, SEC giants LSU and Tennessee go head-to-head in Baton Rouge.

LSU is currently second in the SEC and sits at 21-5 overall, with an 11-2 record in SEC play. The Tigers gave up a tough loss to Florida this past Wednesday, 82-77 in overtime.

The 24-2 Volunteers sit atop the SEC with a 12-1 conference record. Tennessee’s most recent defeat came last weekend against Kentucky. However, they got back to winning ways on Tuesday against Vanderbilt at home.

With only five games to go in the regular season, this game will certainly help decide who wins the SEC regular-season title.

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Key Players

Tennessee:

The Volunteers’ veterans are leading the way this season.

Prior to the Florida game, LSU head coach Will Wade broke down Tennessee, player-by-player.

“The Big Three”

Junior forward Grant Williams, who Wade mentioned first, has performed at a consistently high level for a majority of the season. He leads the Vols in points, rebounds and steals per game, with 19.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.

Tennessee’s second-leading scorer is senior guard Admiral Schofield. He has averaged 16.5 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game.

Third in scoring is junior guard Jordan Bone with 13.2 points per game. Bone also leads the team in assists with 6.5 per game.

Limiting the Vols

In Tennessee’s loss to Kentucky, the Wildcats focused their attention on Williams. It paid off, as they only allowed the junior four shots in his 35 minutes on the court.

LSU:

The Tigers, on the other hand, are led by underclassmen. Two of the top four scorers this season are freshmen.

LSU’s key player this season has been Tremont Waters. The sophomore guard leads the team in points, assists and steals per game, with 15.7 points, 5.9 assists and 3 steals per game.

Next is freshman forward Naz Reid. Reid averages 13.8 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game. Junior guard Skylar Mays averages 13.2 points, 3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

Limiting the Tigers

Just as the Wildcats shut down Grant Williams, the Florida Gators did a good job stopping Tremont Waters. Although he was able to get off 12 shots in the game, eight more than Williams, Waters only made three of them. He ended the game 3-12 from the field and 2-8 from behind the arc with 10 total points.

Game Details

The top two in the SEC will face off on Saturday, Feb. 23. Tip-off is at noon on ESPN.