No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 3 Louisville Prediction

All four top seeds in the East bracket advanced to the Sweet 16, which gives us an intriguing matchup of #2 Tennessee versus #3 Louisville.

The Volunteers went 28-3 during the regular season and headed into the SEC Tournament as the top seed thanks to a 14-2 record. But Tennessee did not win the conference championship, as it fell in the semifinals to Arkansas, 92-91. The Volunteers are a run-and-gun team that prefers the pace of the game to result in scores of 80 and above. Two of their regular-season losses came when they failed to crack 70 points and they tallied 78 in the third setback.

Tennessee features three scorers who average in double digits. Chris Lofton leads the way with 15.5 points per game while backcourt mate JaJuan Smith adds 14.5 per contest. The other prime scoring threat is Tyler Smith, a transfer from Iowa who scores 13.7 per game and gives the Volunteers an inside threat.

Lofton and Smith give Tennessee a dangerous 3-point attack and they are a particularly good shooting team overall, except from the free-throw line. Only Lofton and Smith make over 75 percent of their shots from the line and the team manages just 66 percent shooting overall. While not as bad as Memphis, it is still a red flag if they get in a tight game.

The Volunteers needed a big second-half push to beat #15 seed American in the first round. The game was tied at 40-40 before Tennessee emerged with a comfortable 72-57 final score. In the second round, the Volunteers needed overtime to escape with a 76-71 win over #7 Butler.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals have had two easy games in the tournament so far. They cruised to an 18-point win over #14 Boise State in the opening round and they blew out # 6 seed Oklahoma by 30 points in round two.

Louisville is 26-8 overall and tied for second in the Big East Conference with a 14-4 mark. In the Big East Tournament, the Cardinals lost their first game to Pittsburgh, 76-69.

Rick Pitino's squad features even more balanced scoring than Tennessee does. Four Louisville players average in double digits, with 6-11 center David Padgett leading the way with 11.4 points per game.

While the Volunteers prefer to get up and down the court, the Cardinals are content to play a game with scoring in the 60s. And Louisville is not a great team from the free-throw line, either, as they connect on just 64 percent of their foul shots.

This game will come down to which team can force the tempo it prefers to play. A skilled team with a veteran coach in Pitino, the Cardinals should be able to keep the game below 80 points, which should give them an excellent shot to win.

Prediction: Louisville 78, Tennessee 74.

Sources

Tennessee Volunteers

Louisville Cardinals