No. 17 Tennessee basketball hosts No. 20 Illinois on Saturday afternoon inside of a sold out Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET on CBS with Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst), Jay Wright (analyst) and Jon Rothstein (sideline) on the call. The Vols enter Saturday’s game on a 24-game nonconference home winning streak. It’ll be the fourth time in program history Tennessee is playing four AP-ranked teams in a five-game span. This is the first time the Vols are doing so exclusively in non-conference play and their first time doing so while ranked as well.
That said, Hawkins has had plenty of games when he’s not provided much of a scoring punch. He’s shot just 27 percent from beyond the arc throughout his four years. His decision making is suspect at times as well. He’s the type of guy who has the fan base pulling its hair out, but he’s also super important defensively and he can take Illinois to another level when he’s good offensively.
Can the offense establish consistency? Heading into their road trip out East, the Illini were 62nd in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency on KenPom. Turnover issues, lackluster three-point shooting and a horrendous free throw percentage were all plaguing this team. After averaging 87 points per game in their last two contests, the numbers on paper look better (now 29th in offensive efficiency). We’ll see if that can continue to trend in a positive direction. Giving Shannon enough help on a nightly basis is key, particularly in a matchup like this one when a really good Tennessee defense will try to make his life difficult.
