The Big Orange Report Feb. 6, 2025

 


Pay Back Time

On January 7th the No. 1 ranked Tennessee basketball team paid a visit to Florida. The results were a disaster. The Vols lost by 30 points, the third largest defeat of a top ranked team in the history of men's college ball.
On Saturday, the confident Gators invaded Rocky Top and Coach Rick Barnes was handicapped with only seven scholarship players available for the battle. Starting point guard Zakei Zeigler and power forward Igor Milicic were not available to help their team seek redemption. It would have been a good time to bet and take Tennessee and the points.
Jordan Gainey stepped into the role of point man and Chaz Lanier snapped out of a prolonged shooting slump to lead the Big Orange to an incredible 64-44 pay back victory. Gainey was almost flawless while at the controls of the offense. He scored 16 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out five assists and had three steals while committing only one turnover in the game. Lanier poured in 19 points and drained five of nine shots from behind the arc.
The UT defense was suffocated the Gators for most of the game. The Volunteers held the visitors to 40 points under their season average of 86 points per outing. It was the kind of total team effort that Vol fans have come to love and expect from Rick Barnes coached teams.
The Vols will face a very good Missouri team on Wednesday evening at 6 with the telecast handled on the SEC network. On Saturday, UT squares off against a hot Oklahoma squad at 11 a.m. Television broadcast will be announced later this week.
Guess Who is Coming to Dinner
On Thursday evening in Knoxville, one of the greatest rivalries in women's college basketball will be renewed on the Summit floor. The games' all time winningest coach, Geno Auriemma will be in town with his UConn Huskies to challenge first year coach Kim Caldwell and the Lady Vols. The game will be the marquee matchup for television and tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 CT on ESPN.
The Tennessee vs. UConn showdowns were the primiere battles in the women's game for over a decade as Auriemma and Pat Summitt squared off with national prestige and pride on the line. UConn owns a 17-9 edge in this classic duel but the teams have almost identical all time winning records and percentages. Auriemma broke the all time mark for most wins in a coaching career on Nov. 20, 2024 when he earned victory number 1217. He passed retired Stanford coach Tara Vanderveer and now has more wins in the college game for a women or men's coach. Coach Summitt's final numbers included 1098 victories.
UConn is currently ranked No. 6 on one poll and No. 5 in the power rankings on another while dominating in a somewhat weak Big East conference. The team is led by Player of the Year and potential WNBA No. 1 draft choice Paige Bueckers. The senior is averaging 19 points and 4.6 rebounds per game this season. Superstar freshman Sarah Strong, a 6-2 combo forward who can score in the paint or from outside with a smooth stroke. She is averaging almost 18 points per contest along with eight rebounds. The team's third legitimate star is Azzi Fudd who boasts an average of 11.6 ppg.
Tennessee will counter with the new look, helter skelter configuration with Caldwell's five in, five out philosophy. The full court pressing defense is designed to force as many turnovers as possible that might produce easy baskets for the Lady Vols. It is an exciting, fast paced brand of basketball that is entertaining and exciting to watch.
UT will attempt to counter Strong with Lea Spearman, a 6-4 forward and center Jillian Hollingshed who is 6-5 and specializes in defense. Talaysia Cooper, a transfer from South Carolina, leads Tennessee in scoring with a17.5 average. She is supported by Ruby Whitehorn who boasts an average of 13.5 ppg and Samara Spencer who has drained 41 percent of her three point attempts this season. The three ball will be a huge factor in this showdown and the UT defense must attempt to prevent Bueckers from going off from behind the arc.
Tennessee is coming off a hard fought road win at Missouri on Sunday while UConn rolls into Knoxville off a 50 point plus laugher over another also ran Big East opponent. The Lady Vols forced 24 turnovers by the Tigers and the team is among the national leaders in that vital statistic. 

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