After picking up a much-needed victory over Milwaukee at home last weekend, Wisconsin (6-5) hits the road to Knoxville to take on Tennessee (8-3) on Saturday afternoon.
The Badgers and Volunteers have split the four previous contests in this series, with Wisconsin winning a 74-62 decision at the 2016 Maui Invitational in the last meeting.
Wisconsin has lost four of its last six leading into Saturday’s matchup, though it was able to take care of business in a 83-64 victory over Milwaukee the last time out. Tennessee has fallen on some hard times as well as of late, dropping two of its last three. The Volunteers lost to No. 12 Memphis and Cincinnati before breaking their losing streak in a 75-53 win over Jacksonville State last Saturday.
Though I would expect this to be a close contest, Tennessee is certainly the favorite to come out on top in the end; we all know how awful the Badgers have played on the road this season, and though the Volunteers did lose one of their top players recently with Lamonte Turner’s decision to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, head coach Rick Barnes still has a pretty strong rotation.
Here are the three players on the other side who Badger fans should keep a close eye on throughout Saturday afternoon’s contest.
Jordan Bowden – Guard
2019 stats: 13.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.0 spg, 40.8 FG%, 37.3 3P%
Bowden has taken a big leap this season after serving as the fourth or fifth option on Tennessee’s loaded roster last year.
An excellent shooter, the 6-5 senior from Knoxville has become the team’s leading scorer this season. However, with Turner – who was their No. 2 scorer and one of the top facilitators in the nation at 7.1 assists per game – now sidelined, the Volunteers will need Bowden to step up and shoulder an even greater share of the offensive load.
Bowden has scored at least 11 points in all but two of Tennessee’s games this year and is coming off of his second-highest scoring total of the season (19 points) in its win last Saturday against Jacksonville State.
Yves Pons – Guard
2019 stats: 11.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.5 bpg, 51.6 FG%, 33.3 3P%
As with Bowden, Pons has assumed a far greater role for the Volunteers this season compared to last.
One of the freakier athletes in college basketball, the 6-6 junior from France has always had major potential, and he now appears to be putting it all together. Pons’ minutes have skyrocketed from 11.7 to 32.6 minutes per game this season, and he has poured in at least 10 points in eight of 11 games while averaging over nine points more than he did in 2018-19.
Pons is also second on the team in rebounding and third in the SEC in blocks per game. He rejected a school-record six shots in Tennessee’s last game.
Josiah-Jordan James – Guard
2019 stats: 7.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.5 apg, 37.8 FG%, 26.7 3P%
James was one of the nation’s top high school recruits in the class of 2019, earning five-star status and the No. 22 spot in the 247Sports composite national rankings and making a trip to the McDonald’s All-American Game. Unsurprisingly, the 6-6- combo guard from Charleston, S.C. has been an instant-impact addition for Tennessee this season.
He’s struggled a bit to knock down shots, but he’s still making an impact in the scoring column, and his production should increase moving forward with Turner out of the lineup. James is also second on the team in assists, and his rebounding average is the highest of any Volunteer and all SEC freshmen.
While he hasn’t put up the kind of numbers we often see from highly-touted freshman, there’s no question James has still established himself as one of Tennessee’s top players. He may not be a sure-fire “one and done” player destined for the first round in this year’s NBA draft as things stand today, but he still looks to have a bright future at the next level ahead of him and will undoubtedly be the top pro prospect on the floor in this matchup.