2022 NCAA Tournament First Round: No. 3 Tennessee Volunteers vs. No. 14 Longwood Lancers
How to Watch:
- Date: Thursday, March 17
- Time: 2:45 p.m. ET
- Location: Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN
- TV: CBS
- Live Stream: NCAA.com
Tale of the Tape:
| No. 3 TEN | STAT | No. 14 LONG |
| SEC | Conference | Big South |
| 26-7 | Record | 26-6 |
| 73.2 (130th) | Points Per Game | 76.3 (56th) |
| 62.8 | Points Allowed Per Game | 65.1 |
| 0.647 (3rd) | RPI | 0.5283 (124th) |
| 5th | Strength of Schedule | 344th |
| Automatic Bid | Bid | Automatic Bid |
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Tennessee leaders:
- Kennedy Chandler, G, FR: 13.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 4.6 APG, 2.1 SPG, 37.2% 3PT
- Santiago Vescovi, G, JR: 13.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.6 SPG, 39.6% 3PT
Longwood leaders:
- Justin Hill, G, SO: 14.2 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.5 SPG
- Isaiah Wilkins, G, SR: 12.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.6 SPG
Odds, Lines, and Past Performance:
- TEN Moneyline: -2500
- LONG Moneyline: +1200
- Spread: TEN -17.5
- Over/Under: 132
- ATS Record: TEN 20-13, LONG 19-9
- Over/Under Record: TEN 14-19, LONG 15-13
Odds courtesy of Draftkings. For the latest odds, click here.
The Pick:
- On paper, the Volunteers are one of the best teams in the tournament. They are the 7th-ranked team by KenPom, feature the 3rd-best defense by efficiency rankings, and just ran through the SEC tournament. Plus, they’re in their fourth straight NCAA Tournament, so they shouldn’t be rattled by anything they’ll experience.
- However, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes has had a bit of trouble in the NCAA tournament, with a 24-25 lifetime record. In his 16 NCAA tournament appearances with Texas, his teams were eliminated in the first or second round eight times, including losing 87-68 in the second round the year Kevin Durant played for the Longhorns.
- Both teams play a slightly more methodical pace with the Volunteers playing at the 172nd adjusted tempo and the Lancers playing at the 236th-fastest tempo, so the Lancers will look to slow the game and hit shots from behind the arc (more on that below).
- The Volunteers put up good point totals despite the slow pace because they’re one of the better three-point shooting teams in the country, shooting at a 35.9% clip from behind the arc (60th in D1) on 24.4 attempts per game.
- However, the Lancers are the superior team from deep, ranking 15th in the country with a 38% shooting percentage. They only hoist up 21.6 threes per game, but they will need to be more aggressive from downtown in order to keep this game close. Yet, the Lancers’ ability to shoot the three and their strong record against the spread might be enough to convince us to back the underdog to cover a big spread.
