Baha Mar Championship: Tennessee leads stacked field in the Bahamas

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. The winners tonight will advance to face each other on Friday night, while the losers tonight will square off in a consolation game.

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

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

The Baha Mar Tournament field at a glance

Tennessee: 4-0

AP Ranking: No. 11

Key results: 77-55 win at Louisville

KenPom: No. 6

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

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Baylor: 3-1

AP Ranking: No. 13

KenPom: No. 12

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

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

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St. John’s: 4-0

AP Ranking: No. 22

KenPom: No. 16

Key results:None

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

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Virginia: 3-0

AP Ranking:None

KenPom: No. 77

Key results: 70-60 win over Villanova

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

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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 takes over in an interim role this season.

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

“They’re a little different and I’m not quite sure,” Tennessee assistant Gregg Polinsky said. I mean, we all split scouts and this happens to be one that fell to me. And watching them play, they are very similar. They’re a team that’s a well oiled machine. They play with a great sense of identity on both ends of the court. I always thought, even in my previous days, when I saw teams that have a sense of identity, know who they are, what they want to get done, those are 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 on 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 shots that guys make to the next level.”

Tennessee counters with some hot shooting of their own. Forward Igor Milicic has come on in a hurry, 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 fighting through a hip injury.

Tennessee is a 12.5 point favorite against Virginia. Baylor is a 2.5 point favorite over St. John’s. No matter the results on Thursday, all teams are guaranteed two resume-building opportunities over the next two days. These games will more than likely have an impact come March as the committee decides how to stack the NCAA Tournament.

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