Baha Mar Championship: Tennessee leads stacked field in Bahamas

On By Littum

Tennessee’s early season tournament tips off tonight in the Bahamas. The Volunteers have traveled down to Nassau for the Baha Mar Championship, which will consist of four teams. Tonight’s winners will advance to face each other on Friday night, while tonight’s losers will compete in a consolation game.

Tennessee is joined on the field by Baylor, St. John’s and Virginia. The Vols open with Virginia on Thursday night.

“I love it,” Tennessee assistant coach Gregg Polinsky said of early tournaments this week. “I think it’s a fantastic preparation. Coach talks about it like an NCAA bracket. Right? NCAA brackets are two game tournaments. Even though this is back to back, it’s fine. The competition will be tough. It’s really good. And that helps us figure out where we are.”

The Baha Mar tournament field at a glance

Tennessee: 4-0

AP ranking: No. 11

Key findings: 77-55 win at Louisville

KenPom: No. 6

Players to know: Senior point guard Zakai Zeigler (15.5 ppg, 7.8 ast)

Baylor: 3-1

AP ranking: No. 13

KenPom: No. 12

Key findings: 101-63 loss to Gonzaga, 72-67 win over Arkansas

Players to know: Senior forward Norchad Omier (13.3 ppg, 10 reb, fifth-year starter at third different program)

St. John’s: 4-0

AP ranking: No. 22

KenPom: No. 16

Key findings: None

Players to know: 6-7 junior guard RJ Luis Jr. (17.5 ppg, 7.8 reb)

Virginia: 3-0

AP ranking: None

KenPom: No. 77

Key findings: 70-60 win over Villanova

Players to know: Junior guard Isaac McKneely (16 ppg, 65 percent from 3PT)

Tennessee opens with Virginia

A new era of Virginia basketball is suddenly upon us as longtime head coach Tony Bennett retired just before the season began. Assistant coach Ron Sanchez will take on an interim role this season.

The Cavaliers have played at a notoriously slow pace over the last several years under Bennett, focusing on defense and running their offense until they get the looks they want. Will they continue that style of play in a transition year?

“They’re a little different, and I’m not entirely sure,” Tennessee assistant Gregg Polinsky said. I mean we all share Boy Scouts and this just happened to be one that fell for me. And when you see them play, they are very similar. They are a team that is a well-oiled machine. They play with a great sense of identity at both ends of the court. I’ve always believed, even in my earlier days, when I saw teams that have a sense of identity, know who they are, what they want to do, they’re well-coached teams, and this is one of them.”

Virginia has one of the best shooters in the country on their side. Isaac McKneely enters this tournament shooting three-pointers at a scorching rate, connecting at a legitimate 65 percent clip to open the season. The junior guard is 11 of 17 from deep so far this year and will be a key focus of the always-salty Tennessee defense Thursday night.

“I would call him an elite-level shooter,” Polinsky said of McKneely. “Last year he was about 45% from three. This year he’s about 65% on threes. And if you watch the shots he makes, they look like the shots guys make at the next level.”

Tennessee counters with hot shootings of their own. Striker Igor Milicic is busy scoring at all three levels. Zakai Zeigler is shooting nearly 50 percent from three-point range, while we’ve already seen flashes of brilliance from transfer guard Chaz Lanier. Big man Felix Okpara has been outstanding so far, despite battling through a hip injury.

Tennessee is a 12.5 point favorite against Virginia. Baylor is a 2.5-point favorite over St. John’s. Regardless of the results on Thursday, all teams are guaranteed two chances to make CV over the next two days. Those games will most likely have an impact in March as the committee decides how to stack the NCAA Tournament.

Baylor-St. John’s will get things rolling Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network. Tennessee-Virginia follows, with tip-off scheduled for 9:30 PM ET on CBS Sports Network.