By Chris DePew
TideFans.com staff
Jan. 26, 2016
Where to watch: Tennessee (10-9, 3-4 SEC) at Alabama (10-8, 1-5) – 9 p.m. Central today, Coleman Coliseum, SEC Network
Who to watch: Retin Obasohan. It’s hard to go wrong anytime focusing on the 6-foot-1 senior from Belgium, who averages a team-high 14.8 points per game. But in addition to his usual leadership on offense, keep an eye on how well he defends his opposite number, Tennessee’s Kevin Punter. The SEC’s second-leading scorer (23.3 points per game), the 6-2 Punter strongly resembles Obasohan as a natural shooting guard who has logged significant time at the point out of necessity. He’s broken the 20-point barrier 13 times in the last 16 games and scored a career-high 36 Saturday as the Volunteers upset South Carolina. Their one-on-one battle could be one of the better ones this year.
What to watch for: Can the Crimson Tide frontcourt rise up? The Vols only have three players on the roster taller than 6-foot-5, and only one who sees significant minutes. Sometimes that spells disaster, such as last Wednesday’s 88-74 loss to Vanderbilt, and sometimes UT can run bigger teams ragged, as in the 78-69 upset of the Gamecocks. Jimmie Taylor has had success in spurts on plays designed to get him the ball in the paint, but hasn’t been a consistent focal point on offense. He could be primed for a big game, as could Shannon Hale if he will take advantage of his size and not settle for 3-pointers all night.
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