Box Score
Tennessee Men's Basketball
Tennessee made it 36 home wins in a row — barely.
The Vols held off upset-minded Belmont 79-77 Saturday afternoon in a nip-and-tuck battle at Thompson-Boling Arena.
“I take this as a win against a team that will be in the NCAA tournament,’’ UT coach Bruce Pearl said. “It was a solidly played game.’’
Tyler Smith led the No. 16 Vols (8-2) with 23 points and had eight rebounds while Wayne Chism came up big with 12 rebounds.
But Belmont guard Alex Renfroe was the story of the game, scoring 30 points in what at times seemed unstoppable fashion.
Point guard Bobby Maze has been considered one of UT’s top defenders throughout the season, but on this day, Renfroe left Maze in his tracks with lightning-quick drives to the basket for the Bruins (4-4).
“Renfroe played a little bit like (Davidson All-American Stephen) Curry,’’ Pearl said, comparing the Bruins to Davidson’s Top 25 program. “What an amazing effort from Renfroe; athletically, he’s very gifted.’’
Pearl said Renfroe’s success against Maze left the UT point guard in a daze near the end of regulation; Maze missed three of four free throws in the final 28.1 seconds with the Vols desperately holding on by a basket.
“That (Maze) is your point guard, that’s who you want on the line,’’ Pearl said. “He missed them this time, he’ll make them next time. He’ll prepare for that moment.
“Did Renfroe’s 30 points in 31 minutes have something to do with Bobby’s confidence? I think it did, but he can’t let that bother him.’’
Meanwhile, the Vols did their best to bother Renfroe each trip down the floor, leading to a cumulative effect that resulted in the Belmont star missing two of three free throws in the final eight seconds before intentionally missing his final free throw with his team down two and 1.3 seconds left on the clock.
As effective as Renfroe was, the Bruins leading scorer, Andy Wicke, was not. Cameron Tatum and freshman Scotty Hopson combined to hold Wicke scoreless after he entered the game averaging 14 points per contest.
Hopson enjoyed his finest moment as a Vol to this point at the 9:36 mark when he stole the ball from Wicke and converted with a reverse dunk that tied the score at 58-58 with 9:36 left and brought down a house filled with 21, 314 fans.
Belmont, which defeated Alabama and Cincinnati on the road last season, opened the second half on a 10-0 run to take a 50-44 lead. The Vols didn’t take the lead for good until Tatum hit a 3-pointer with 6:03 left to make it 68-65.
“Scotty’s play was really good,’’ said Chism, who was doubled down low most of the game and earned praise from Pearl for his poise. “But Scotty needs to get a new dunk; that one is starting to get old.’’
Perhaps, but the Vols’ home court win streak remains fresh — barely.
UT breaks for the holidays before resuming the season Dec. 29 at home against Louisiana-Lafayette at 7:30 p.m.
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Comments » 48
VolHooch42 writes:
WHEW!
GO VOLS!
Ironcity writes:
This is a game we should have lost for sure. Our guys just have not bought into Pearls system. Help defense is non existent. Intensity in the half court is nil. When teams zone 4 guys stand on the perimeter and watch Tyler and Maze dribble and pass to each other. If they do get a pass down low no one attacks the basket to help out the low block. As for our press their just isn't enough effort or help defense to expect any positive result. We are probably a top 40 team right now. Woolridge and Hopson are not even close to playing SEC caliber defense. In a down SEC that should be good enough for the NCAA but I just don't see UT getting very far. I guess I should be happy because 8-2 is fantastic when you see all of the shortcomings. I 'll bet coach Pearl will be working overtime during the holidays to attempt to get these guys to realize what it takes to compete. I have a real bad feeling about the Kansas game in Lawrence. It could get ugly. One other thing we sure do miss Chris and JaJuans ability to put a game away at the line. What a comfort it was knowing that when one of those guys got fouled the game was pretty much over.
I guess I am done ranting for today. I am curious to read what coach thinks.
Ironcity writes:
I think the reason coach plays his son is that no one on this team even comes close to matching the intensity his son plays with. I would hope that some of the guys would see the intensity and effort that he plays with when he is on the court. I do agree with you that his son is not at the talent level with the first 11 players on this team, but if you do not reward effort at some point, you will continue to getting the type of effort that we have been witnessing.
asleep#212036 writes:
BP said early on that we weren't very good on D or in our half-court offense but watching those first few games, I think we all, including me, got a little carried away with this team's potential. The one thing we don't have, besides what BP said, is senior leadership. Forget Lofton's and J. Smith's stats from last year. The most important thing was essentially having two coaches on the floor leading the team, in good times and bad.
BP said early on, and most pundits (but precious few fans!) agreed, this would be a rebuilding year and watching their most recent efforts against quality opponents, I am now a believer. However, the NCAA's should be a lock with probably a #4 seed or better. If that's a rebuilding year at UT, long live Coach Pearl. Go Vols!!!
allvol9 writes:
Wow....that was close. Belmont is a quality mid major team and showed it in the ncaa's last year. We still have not gotten it together and it shows. But a win is a win and hopefully by sec time this team will respond. have to remember we are a very young team. And it really does not bother me that pearl plays his son some. stephen may not have great skills but he plays with passion. we need to lay of pearl on this....he is why we are all excited about vol basketball and he will not lose a game for us because of this. if he wants to play him a few minutes here and there...so be it. he has earned that right!
splinterdand#602266 writes:
I hope Pearl is around for awhile, and I don't believe that he'd take another college job anytime soon. But if he ever decides to bolt for the NBA, the Belmont's Rick Byrd, son of Knoxville "legend" Ben Byrd, would be a great hire. I love his style and the way his teams execute his game plans.
colts18 writes:
great win and nerve racking to watch! we have to be able to knock down free throws from the beginning of the game all the way to the last second. theres no excuse not hitting free throws. Scotty with the air ball? Come on. If we plan on betting up on the rest of the non-conference teams like Memphis and Kansas and winning an SEC championships we HAVE TO HIT OUR FREE THROWS! Great win guys but got to play better.
theoldbear writes:
Still no point guard! No team defense, no movement on offense, and can't shoot free throws. It may be a long season!
The one good thing is depth. But when you are playing this poorly, it doesn't seem to matter which players are on the floor.
Here's hoping our players get a wake-up call before the SEC season starts!
ncvol writes:
We escaped with a win by the skin of our teeth. Very close all the way to the end. Sure glad we survived. Go Vols!
doctorfingervol writes:
It is very obvious that this team misses J.P.,but a win is a win. Chism had a good game with 6 pts and 12 boards but he needs to stop making silly fouls that forces him to the bench early. If he would stop making fouls 35 feet from the basket and play smart his season could be huge. Pearl needs to get the team fired up with this fight scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxkr4w... Memphis is down two at the half to the orangemen!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
It seemed to me that no matter how hard CBP tried to convince the guys that Belmont is for real, they just didn't buy it and they almost paid the price. After the great job we did defending Marquette's guards, you would think they would have remembered how to do it against Renfroe. The help-side defense just was not there. I know Belmont had other shooters, but the percentages say to make SOMEONE ELSE beat you. Clearly, CBP is going to have his hands full drumming into their heads the necessity for playing TEAM defense. The idea that an off-ball defender should take a step into an area where a guy MIGHT go rather than wait until he HAS gone seems to be beyond their understanding. Yet that is exactly what they did very well against Marquette. I'll bet CBP's hair will be completely gray by the time this season is over, if he hasn't pulled it all out!
doctorfingervol writes:
Right on their team defense is not there right now and watching their perimeter defense makes me want to punch a hole in the wall, but hey it can only improve.
dopedawg writes:
more D, no treys, no more bandstanding.....just play some good b ball. Still love ya guys though. Go Vols!! You'll soon get it!!!
doctorfingervol writes:
whaaahh yaah yahhh yah ayyyyyy yaaayyyyyaaaaaaaahh hahayyaa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxkr4w...
lewhs93#205993 writes:
I read this morning from some of our" blog
coaches " concerning the blowout.They were sure Pearl was giving the usual line.Maybe we listen to him in the future.It look to me like our young team is going to give us a lot of anxious moment before this season is over.
TopTenn writes:
Belmont is a great 3pt. shooting team with a great coach. The Bruins will make some noise in the NCAA tourney. Some team in the tourney will be a victim for the Bruins.
murrayvol writes:
Good post!
I take exception with only one statement. We played great defense on 2 Marquette guards. Not so much on Mr. Matthews.
murrayvol writes:
Don't fret. They'll do fine.
murrayvol writes:
What would be unusual is him turning down $8-10 million over 5 years in favor of riding a bus and doing the team's laundry.
doctorvol#211700 writes:
I doub S. Pearl will find many minutes once JP returns
givehim6 writes:
More of a team effort, but I would have loveed to see Smith or Chism do a 24 point game. the team need to work on foul shot shooting!
THE_VOL writes:
SSDD I guess...I just really don't understand how a team with this much supposed talent, length and athleticism can only get SEVEN freaking turnovers against freaking Belmont! And don't EVEN try to sing that "Belmont is dangerous...yada yada yada" tune. God-forsaken SAMFORD turned them over FOURTEEN times. AUSTINfreakinPEAY forced NINETEEN. PITT and TSU got THIRTEEN each. The powerhouse Florida teams got 19 and 16 - no not THOSE FL teams - JACKSONVILLE AND NORTH FLA!!!! PLEASE SOMEBODY EXPLAIN this to me!!! Of ALL those teams WE are supposed to be the hard pressing, chaos creating, turn you over repeatedly team AND WE GET SEVEN???????
Renfro comes in averaging 11 pts and FOUR turnovers and we let him leave with THIRTY and TWO????? And don't believe this dumba$s Griffith either cause he didn't get many of those 30 against Maze rather most came whenever Maze got switched off him and one of these other matadors supposedly picked him up.
BP can talk all the coachspeak he wants for you kool-aid drinkers but I ain't buying it. Belmont should not be in the game playing us at TBA (or anywhere else for that matter.) Period. End of story. Anybody that wants to make excuses or build them up as some kind of title contender is simply accepting the same thought process that got us in trouble in football. FACT: One of their best 3 players had his offer REVOKED because he couldn't play at TN!!!! So just how good are they???? FACT: The season is one-third over and there's only one more patsy on the slate. FACT: This team has NOT made improvement so far, shows NO signs of making any, and is playing selfish, stupid, uninspired basketball. The only thing Tatum, Hopson and Woolridge give a rat's a#s about is scoring. If they can't or won't play defense then they need to sit cause not a single one of them is producing enough offensively to justify their lack of effort defensively. Chism I've pretty much given up on - ANYTHING he provides is a bonus anymore. Those four will ultimately make or break this season for this team though and unfortunately not a one of them appears to have anything but the NBA on their mind. Perhaps someone should tell them that NONE of them will EVER play in that league the way they've played so far this year. The real question is at what point does BP stop making excuses for them and babying guys and demand better performance???? You can consider this negative if you want but before you bash ask yourself - what's not true?????? Reality hurts sometimes.
THE_VOL writes:
What? We didn't play GREAT defense on ANY Marquette guards! Matthews went for 30. McNeal was in foul trouble most of the night and still got 10 pts in 25 minutes. And James just had a bad shooting night as most of his 12 shots were uncontested!
doctorfingervol writes:
Dude how many does have you been on the rag now? Chill out this team has two quality wins against marquette and gtown. Pearl will get these guys to buy in defensively. They did come out with the win alright.Ease up on Pearl man would you rather be watching Buzz ball right now and losing to Belmont? That is what i THOUGHT!
THE_VOL writes:
I'll take that bet. I'll even make you this bet - Belmont won't even MAKE the NCAA tourney! Name your stakes.
FIELDGOALTN writes:
Been gone a long time - Is FOOLmer still coaching the Foosball program? LMFAO
THE_VOL writes:
go finger yourself...but you might want to learn to write first.
doctorfingervol writes:
Sorry The vol meant days not does.
doctorfingervol writes:
Sorry professor the vol just trying to get some feedback on your opinion. ?
doctorfingervol writes:
That is what I thought Larry Johnson aka the vol. Go trim your mangina!
yabadabadoo1026 writes:
not a good shooting team----its been many games since w've been over a measly 30% on 3s-------if we cant hit 35% minimum consistently we need to quit shooting them and look for the 10-15 footers cause we wasting too many positions ---too many of our guys just want to shoot 3s--just too many bricks, airballs and shots off the top of the backboard
coach75 writes:
a few years ago we would not mention the word basketball and now we are criticizing a young team with no seniors after trips to the dance. some people can never be happy. enjoy success, and relax. we can start thinking football in april.
smokyredbone writes:
Heres your nightly STFU Bozo!
Brentwoodvol writes:
Great post after reading all this other stupid stuff. Plus JP was out again and he makes them much better. We have come so far in BBall and they are fun to watch. Some people kill me on here even the talk of NCAA was a joke a few years ago now we are on our coach who has gotten us this far. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese
smokyredbone writes:
You really should seek some help!!! You are a complete blow hard! Get out of the trailer every now and then Creep!! The biggest troll that posts on here!!
VOLKING writes:
Yeah...where is overratedvols?? He said if we wanted to watch a good team play, then watch Memphis High take on Syracuse in Hades...I mean Memphis. Or we could watch his Tiger High football team in the watchyamacallit Bowl against South Florida. How's that workin' out for you, overrated?
FIELDGOALTN writes:
At least you didn't throw a shoe at him. LOL
johnlg00#206211 writes:
It's hard to know just what goes through the minds of some of the players, so I can't say we KNOW that some of the guys are too focused on their individual scoring over team success, but in many respects, THE_VOL has this team pegged. As I have said before, when JP gets back, we may see the bench shortened a bit until some of the guys learn to play hard and smart on defense. Not that there is not plenty wrong with the offense as well! I agree that there has not been as much improvement since the beginning of the season as I had hoped. I still see the same kinds of mistakes by the same players. Since Gonzaga and Memphis just got beat on their home courts yesterday, they will both be coming after us with fire in their eyes. If we don't improve a GREAT deal over what we saw yesterday, we are in real trouble.
drwfocus#660070 writes:
Regarding THE-VOL's ranting and reviewing many of his past posts, I find myself beginning to agree with him more and more. This season seems to be a lost cause. Pearl should just give up on these players and concentrate on recruiting for next year. Oh well back to BBall obscurity.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
some good comments, I can't read 'em all. The best things now:
-fans are realizaing that the talent is there, the knowledge isn't
-there is an almsot an exact parallel with the women's team, except the LV's are even younger
Both the LV's and the Vols rely on defense to generate offense. As the smarter (much smarter than me) fans have ntoed, the men fail BADLY on techniaue D. This will improve over the season, and especially with the tough schedule.
The SEC is down...excedpt for the teams we play. All of them despise us, and bring their 'A' game. I love SEC basketball!!
asleep#212036 writes:
Well said plasticman! All this team needs to be Top 10 calibre is a consistent outside shooter (or two!) to break up those zones. Once that happens, the pace picks up and we are back in our element. Without it, the games get real s-l-o-w and we struggle offensively and defensively. Unfortunately, right now, we don't have a guy like that and are therefore far from a threat to make any noise in the NCAA's. Go Vols!!!
Waldorf writes:
I agree. Pearl (the son) is a joke on the court. There ended up being a 9-10 point swing because of him.
Then again, Daddy could have called the TO, but for some reason won't use them when another team is on a run until it hits 10-0.
Mark my word - by the end of the 2010-11 season, the rest of the SEC will have caught up to Pearl and we'll be back to being a perennial 8-8 or 7-9 win team again unless he places an emphasis on the half court game.
Then again, if this team doesn't make the Elite 8 or farther this year, I wouldn't be surprised if his "dream job" doesn't get tossed to the side like his wife of 20+ years when something better came along.....Bruce Pearl is in it for Bruce Pearl and no one else.
THE_VOL writes:
Actually the only positive was that we got a W. Now, answer MY question - what's not true in my post???
THE_VOL writes:
Great post! Really shows your ability to debate. Now, care to tell me what is NOT true in that post???? I know that would require a bit of knowledge on your part so I suspect I'll get another extremely intelligent reply. LMFAO!!!
Colliervol writes:
Pretty much accurate but two points:
1) We have more than one patsy left on the schedule. Several SEC schools fall into that category at the moment. And unless Memphis finds a point guard and some team chemistry, they are not going to be near the team that people thought. Not a patsy but not nearly as tough either.
2) I think I'll let Bruce have more than 10 games to get Hopson, Woolridge and Maze playing his game.
houvol#438636 writes:
I hate to say it....but we are not good. I hope things turn around soon. We play at Kansas soon on National TV. If we keep playing like we have we are going to get blown out in Lawrence. It is past time to get it together. Look what Kansas did to Temple. We are in trouble.
ORANGEASIAN writes:
How spoiled we are. 8-2 is great with this schedule, all the freshman, and injuries we have. It wasn't that long ago we were 2-8 alot of times. Some of the so called fans don't realize the big picture. These growing pains we are going through will turn us into a great program.Coach Pearl and his staff are bulding something special. Watch how tough we are down the stretch.
Madkels writes:
Interesting post on here. It's good we have the ability to be spoiled by our recent success under CBP. That makes us want more. At the same time, we must remember this team is young and has only played 10 games together. CBP will have them growing as the season progresses and playing even better next year. It's great to want to watch this team grow and see if our future expectations will be met. I feel they will.
The weakness on D and our poor play against the zone both must be improved if we want to go deep in the NCAA. Let's watch and hope by March we see huge improvements in both. If not, CBP will be recruiting better talent.
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