Round One goes to Kentucky's Gillispie

Pearl says he, Vols failed in their execution

By Mike Griffith

Originally published 09:47 p.m., January 23, 2008
Updated 09:47 p.m., January 23, 2008

What the scoreboard didn't say, Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl suggested in the post-game press conference.

Round One of this inevitable, unavoidable coaches' rivalry in this series goes to Billy Gillispie.

"I told our team it was my fault in the sense that we have gotten a little too much in as far as play calling is concerned,'' Pearl said after the No. 3-ranked Vols' 72-66 loss at Kentucky on Tuesday night. "On a lot of our play calls we were in the wrong spots.

"We didn't execute.''

By holding both the Vols and Vanderbilt to their season-low point totals, Gillispie is emerging as the defensive wizard he was made out to be when hired in the Bluegrass State.

"No matter what the situation might be they are going to battle until the end every single time,'' Gillispie said, praising his Wildcats. "The way it happened was perfect.''

Kentucky (8-9, 2-2 SEC) rallied from a 48-39 deficit at the 13:34 mark by limiting UT's prolific offense to two field goals over the next 13:22 on 2-for-16 shooting.

When Chris Lofton hit a 3-pointer with 12.1 seconds left, the game was all but over, with the shot drawing UT to 68-63.

Three key elements that enabled the Vols (16-2, 3-1) to attain the No. 1 RPI rating and No. 3 Associated Press ranking were neutralized Tuesday night.

Tennessee forced only 12 Kentucky turnovers - eight below the Vols' third-best-in-the-nation average - and dished out just eight assists - 12 below UT's SEC-leading norm.

Perhaps most stunning, the Wildcats' reserves outscored the Vols, 25-20, and Kentucky showed no signs of fatigue down the stretch despite having three players see 37 minutes of action or more.

Tyler Smith and JaJuan Smith, two of Tennessee's most consistent performers, also had off nights.

Tyler Smith was held to a season-low five points on 2-of-9 shooting while JaJuan Smith scored seven points on 3-of-9 shooting.

"JaJuan Smith and Tyler Smith are key players, and they both had subpar nights,'' Pearl said. "I'm not upset at them, and I'm not mad at them. But they were both off on the same night.

"Give credit to (Kentucky's) Perry Stevenson, he outplayed Tyler. Tyler had not been outplayed all year.''

Some thought UT would have a key advantage with assistant Steve Forbes, formerly an assistant coach under Gillispie at Texas A&M, doing the scouting report for Kentucky.

But Stevenson, who scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, pulled down seven rebounds and blocked five shots, was often not accounted for when the Vols doubled-down on freshman sensation Patrick Patterson.

Next time around, it's a safe bet UT takes a different approach to the Wildcats, both the coaches and the players.

"Man, that was upsetting,'' JaJuan Smith said after the game. "But I think it brought us all closer together.

"We'll see Kentucky again.''

Pearl left Rupp Arena with a fast gait and indicated he was anxious to see tape of the game.

"When you lose, you can learn a lot from breaking it down,'' Pearl said. "I just felt we didn't have the same energy.''

It was a deviation from the norm in that sense: prior to Tuesday night's loss, Pearl's Vols were 55-4 when leading or tied in a game with five minutes left.

Silver Linings: Lofton's 22 points were the most he has scored in more than a month, and his 5-of-10 3-point performance marked only the third time he's hit 50 percent or better from beyond the 3-point arc.

"That will bode well for the future,'' Pearl said. "It was good to see Chris hit those shots.''

Wayne Chism entered the game shooting just .387 from the free-throw line but connected on 5 of 6 attempts against the Wildcats. Chism also blocked three shots and scored 12 points and did not commit a turnover.

Even on an off night, Tyler Smith dished out five assists with no turnovers.

Mixed Bag: J.P. Prince scored nine points on 3-of-4 shooting and had two blocked shots in 18 minutes, but Prince also was limited to two rebounds and had three turnovers and no assists.