The Tennessee Vols wrap up the regular-season Saturday afternoon at Georgia.
The Vols will be looking for a second consecutive season sweep of the season series. The Vols defeated the Bulldogs 82-71 in January.
With recent wins at Arkansas and home against Florida the Vols (21-9, 9-6 SEC) should receive an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament, but are now looking to improve their seeding. The Bulldogs (17-10, 8-7 SEC) are still trying to improve their chances of making the tournament.
Coach Bruce Pearl knows that both teams are still playing for a lot.
"We will be playing for seeding in both the NCAA and SEC tournaments. There is a lot at stake for both Tennessee and Georgia," Pearl said.
Georgia will be a good test for the streaking Vols, who have won six out of their last seven games since the return of junior guard Chris Lofton.
Georgia has a record of 13-3 at home and uses a balance offensive attack. Georgia has three players who average double-digits in points. The Bulldogs are second in the conference in 3-point shooting percentage (36.8), scoring margin (+8.6), and lead the conference in offensive rebounds at 14 per game.
In their earlier match up this season the Vols were able to slow Georgia's offensive attack.
The Bulldogs shot just 38.5 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from beyond the arc. The undersized Vols were able to out rebound the Bulldogs 35-34. Sundiata Gaines led the Bulldogs with 21 points in the last meeting.
Tennessee's defense has fueled their recent run and will need to continue their hot play if they want to win their second conference road game. The Vols forced 20 turnovers against the Gators on Tuesday bringing their three game total to 70.
The Bulldogs will be without sophomore guard Mike Mercer.
Mercer suffered season-ending knee injuries against South Carolina in mid-February. Mercer had five points and five assists against Tennessee earlier this season. Mercer was averaging 13.6 points per game.
The Vols can clinch the No. 3 seed in the SEC tournament with a win. If the Vols lose they will need Florida to defeat Kentucky to secure the three seed. If the Vols are the three seed they will play the number six team from the western division to open the SEC tournament.
Probable Starters:
| Georgia Bulldogs | |||||
| Pos | Name | Height | PPG | RPG | APG |
| G | Billy Humphrey | 6-2 | 7.4 | 3.4 | 1.9 |
| G | Levi Stukes | 6-1 | 12.3 | 2.7 | 2.0 |
| G | Sundiata Gaines | 6-1 | 10.6 | 5.6 | 4.6 |
| F | Takais Brown | 6-8 | 14.0 | 5.4 | 0.8 |
| C | Dave Bliss | 6-10 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 0.7 |
| Tennessee Volunteers | |||||
| Pos | Name | Height | PPG | RPG | APG |
| G | Ramar Smith | 6-2 | 10.3 | 3.2 | 3.0 |
| G | Chris Lofton | 6-2 | 20.8 | 3.0 | 1.7 |
| G | JaJuan Smith | 6-2 | 15.1 | 4.4 | 1.4 |
| F | Dane Bradshaw | 6-4 | 5.7 | 4.1 | 4.6 |
| F | Wayne Chism | 6-9 | 9.3 | 5.4 | 0.9 |
| Statisical Comparision | ||
| Tennessee | Georgia | |
| 80.4 | Points | 76.2 |
| 74.7 | Opponent Points | 68.1 |
| +5.7 | Scoring Margin | +8.1 |
| 44.7 | Field Goal % | 46.8 |
| 45.4 | Opponent Field Goal % | 43.1 |
| 35.5 | Three-point % | 38.6 |
| 34.7 | Opponent 3-point % | 35.2 |
| 65.5 | Free Throw % | 67.5 |
| 35.6 | Rebounds | 38.3 |
| 37.7 | Opponent Rebounds | 32.1 |
| -2.0 | Rebounding Margin | +6.3 |
| 15.7 | Assists | 15.3 |
| 14.5 | Turnovers | 15.8 |
| 9.6 | Steals | 8.7 |
| 3.3 | Blocks | 4.9 |
| 21-9, 9-6 | Record | 17-11, 8-7 |
Comments
Brandon commented, on March 6, 2007 at 10:16 a.m.:
I watched the game on t.v and I was so nervous at one point in the game but uber glad we pulled off and won the game!