Juwan Howard Said All The Right Things About Tennessee, But Can Michigan Actually Stop The Vols Guards?

INDIANAPOLIS -- If you were wondering what type of matchup Tennessee will get against Michigan on Saturday night, you're not alone. The rollercoaster of a season for the Wolverines continues to play out, this time after beating 6 seeded Colorado State on Thursday. This is the same team that was bounced from their conference tournament in their first game last week. So if you're trying to pinpoint the matchup between the Vols and Wolverines, good luck to you.

What exactly is the focal point for Saturday's matchup? For the Vols, it's how to guard Hunter Dickinson. The 7-foot-2 monster will likely cause problems for the Vols and force Uros Plavsic and others to clog up the paint, just like they did to Walker Kessler of Auburn in the regular season. Though the Vols let Jabari Smith get his, they did a great job of making Kessler uncomfortable, forcing the guards to pick up the slack.

Could the Vols pull the same type of move on Saturday? It depends on how they guard DeVante' Jones, if he plays, or Frankie Collins. The Wolverines were down 15 points to Colorado State and then made an incredible comeback. So getting the Wolverines down is possible, but keeping them there is key. This is where the leadership of Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James will play a key factor.

Michigan head coach Juwan Howard was very complimentary of Kennedy Chandler and discussed the growth he has seen from him this year.











Juwan Howard says he will rely on defense to contain the trio of Tennessee backcourt players.

"Well, they're a very good team. What I've seen is, I mentioned earlier, they have great size, good inside play, protectors, they have shooting from all over the floor, whether they're perimeter or primary ball handler or from Chandler or Zeigler. They also have wings, and they have a great coach (Rick Barnes). He's had a lot of success in college basketball over his years in different programs.