Even with only one day to prepare for a matchup with the Spartans (2:20, CBS), Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl is letting his team relax and enjoy the school’s first-ever Elite Eight appearance, something that excites Williams and his teammates.

“After we get done today, we’re going to go out and get some barbecue in St. Louis and we’re going to go watch the game on a big-screen TV and that’s what we would normally do on a road trip,” Pearl said. “Last week, the guys went to Dave & Buster’s and played video games. I don’t want them in the hotel, locked in their rooms thinking about everything.

“We’ll get them together tonight and we’ll go back and watch some more tape and focus on the opponent but just keep doing what we’re doing.”

MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo talked about all the distractions he dealt with during his first NCAA Tournament run, but Williams believes the No. 6-seed Volunteers will be focused on the task at hand.

“This team is a family. We’re down to earth,” Williams said. “On the court, it’s business, but off the court, it’s still business but we know how to have fun and know how to stay on path to do the right things.

“It’s barbecue, we’re smiling,” he joked. “It’s something I’m proud of.”

Battle on the boards

When looking at the differences in Tennessee’s wins and losses, the stat that jumps out is rebounding. In their 28 wins, the Volunteers have a plus-4.3 rebounding margin. In their eight losses, they have a minus-9.6 rebounding margin.

With four starters measuring 6-foot-7 or taller, rebounding is something that often comes easy to Tennessee, but when they’ve lost the battle on the glass, they’ve often lost the game. In this year’s NCAA Tournament, the Volunteers have a plus-6.3 rebounding margin.

Against MSU, who came into the weekend as the No. 1 team in the nation in rebounding margin, the Volunteer players know Sunday will be a battle.

“It’s going to be a fight,” Tennessee forward Wayne Chism said. “I know I have (Williams) on my end to help rebound and (guard J.P. Prince) is another person who helps us rebound too, so we’ve got three big bodies who are going to rebound so it’s just going to be a fight on the inside for the ball.”

The Spartans send every player to the glass to grab rebounds, so Tennessee knows every player will have to do his part.

“It’s going to take the whole team to rebound, every position,” Prince said. “It’s not necessarily just Wayne and Brian’s job to get the rebound, even though we do try to force it on them, but we know the guards will also have to come down and help them when they’re boxing their man out and get to the boards, give (the big men) a little rest.

“At the end of the game, rebounding will be the key.”

Nine players deep

The Volunteers have nine players who are playing at least 11 minutes per game in the NCAA Tournament. The depth has brought success from the bench.

Only seven times this season did Tennessee’s bench get outscored by its opponent’s bench.

The Volunteer starters have the confidence that when they come out of the game, they are being replaced by talented players.

“We have a bunch of players on the bench that can play basketball too,” Chism said. “They didn’t come on this team just to sit on the bench. They came to this team to play and everybody in our starting lineup said, ‘OK, we’re going to split the time.’

“We’re going to play our butt off in the first couple minutes and let them come in and do the same thing. That’s what our bench is doing. They’re helping up come up with good wins and sometimes our bench wins the game for us.”

As they head into a matchup with a banged-up Spartans team, Pearl knows his team’s depth is going to be important, as it has been all season.

“I think it takes a little pressure off, I think it brings teams together, I think it builds chemistry,” Pearl said. “I think I can look at every single player in that locker room, look them dead straight in the eye and say, ‘We wouldn’t be here without you.’ It’s a good feeling.”