Tennessee honored its best men's basketball players and brought out the worst in Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Honoring UT's All-Century Team was planned. Routing Vanderbilt was predictable.
UT picked up where it left off last month with a 69-50 victory over the Commodores. The Vols beat Vanderbilt 76-63 Jan. 20 in Nashville.
"One of my concerns was we played very well up there (in Nashville), and they did not play well," UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "They couldn't (have played) any worse."
Actually, they could. And they didn't waste much time proving it.
UT led 19-6 after 10 minutes. Another UT surge in the first eight minutes of the second half extended the lead to 20 points and killed what little suspense remained.
You don't have to look in pinpointing Vanderbilt's failure against the Vols this season. Just check out Vanderbilt's most productive players.
A.J. Ogilvy, Vanderbilt's leading scorer and rebounder, and teammate Jeffrey Taylor, the team's second-leading scorer and rebounder, have combined for only 28 points and 20 rebounds in two games against UT.
Their lack of production was more glaring when compared to the play of UT's leading scorer, Tyler Smith. His 30 points Saturday surpassed the total points of Ogilvy-Taylor in two games versus UT. In fact, he had more points (19) in the second half than Ogilvy and Taylor had in the game.
"Wayne (Chism) and Brian (Williams) have always played well against Ogilvy," Pearl said. "J.P. Prince on Taylor: He's got the size to hang in their with him and the quickness to keep him out of the lane. He just knows how to guard him."
Deprived of their inside game, the Commodores didn't have an alternative, which gives you an idea why UT has fared so well against them this season. There's no Jodie Meeks or Marcus Thornton to torment the Vols from the perimeter.
Georgia looked just as incompetent as Vanderbilt in scoring 48 points against the Vols on Wednesday night. Combine the Bulldogs' ineffectiveness with Vanderbilt's, and you have the lowest two-game scoring total for UT opponents since 1997.
As well as UT played defensively, Pearl admitted you had to consider the competition.
You also have to consider the competition in projecting UT's stretch run.
In the next five games, UT will play the three toughest opponents from the East - South Carolina, Florida and Kentucky. It also will play Mississippi State and Ole Miss from the West.
Only one of those games (Mississippi State) will be at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Not only will the Vols face better teams than they have encountered the past two weeks. They will have less favorable matchups.
In the next five games, UT will have to contend with five of the SEC's top six scorers. Only one of them, Kentucky's Patrick Patterson, is a post-up player. In the same stretch, UT will be matched against five of the SEC's top six 3-point shooting teams.
Up next is Ole Miss guard David Huertas, who ranks fourth in the conference in scoring and second in 3-point shooting. Then comes Meeks, who leads the conference in scoring and 3-point shooting.
If you want to fully appreciate the increased degree of difficult for UT's defense, just add up the points. Vanderbilt had 50 points, and Georgia had 48 against the Vols at Thompson-Boling.
Meeks had 54.
Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.
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Comments » 16
bugman (Inactive) writes:
3-2
DaveVol writes:
About any JA column (that I haven't read in years)...Who Cares.
Slystone writes:
I think they'll lose all three road games.
tractoronthepole writes:
Rockytoptalk sums up our season well and what has made Pearl's teams of the past so much fun.
http://www.rockytoptalk.com/2009/2/14...
CoverOrange writes:
Would KNS put up a different picture of Adams than the one of him sleeping on the bleachers in an empty TBA?
Laydbakvol writes:
There's got to be a secondary violation in there somewhere. Be a man and self report it John Adams!
bmaples writes:
Good link, tractor -- the steals factor is critical, I think. Can't believe the difference in national ranking on that statistic -- from top-5 to 139th or so. Got to learn to steal more and turnover less.
Bruce in Louisville
www.brucemaples.com
bud0323 writes:
Now don't say that the Vols will lose all three road games. I actually think that Tennessee can go into Kentucky and beat Kentucky. I know it'll be tough but I think they can win all three road games. I think Ole Miss is the most critical game because of the fact that it doesn't get any easier down the road. But Tennessee has so many players that have NCAA experience and they've been through all the wars. They've really turned it up defensively after starting the yyear terrible. Good enough that I don't think Jodie Meeks will score 54 points on us again. He might score 20 bu not 54.
wyomingvol writes:
Adams and B Ball.... Yawnnnnnn....
WeLoveTennesseeVols writes:
Yes, we think so in Afganistan too!
tan007 writes:
I think Coach Pearl surely is working very hard on a plan to swarm Meeks to keep him from scoring high against us again. I think he is a very smart Coach & am counting on him to come up with a plan that will have a very different outcome from the last game.
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
tough schedule coming up, but UT is playing better ball. there is a chance to win 3 of the 5. (also a chance to lose all 5 if they revert to their old ways)
Best case is 4-1. The toughest will by Ky, although Ky kinda stunk it up last game.
bmaples writes:
Kentucky is beatable, but not if you let Meeks get loose in front of the Rupp crowd. Keep the crowd out of it, play defense out of your mind, and you can beat them even at Rupp.
The other games are all winnable, as well -- but there are also some great opportunities for coughing up a hairball of a loss.
4-1 would be great, 5-0 would be even greater. If they work as hard as they know how, they can win four or five. If they don't listen to the scouting report, or if they fail to work hard, or if they don't pay attention to CBP, they can lose 2-3.
I'm pulling for 5-0. I think it's doable, and I think they know it is.
Bruce in Louisville
brucemaples.com
spvol writes:
Adams can't push a noun against a verb without spewing nagativity.
THE_VOL writes:
The ONLY one that matters today is Ole Miss. Everything else is just more speculation and hype. Ya'll remember last week at this time what you were saying???? Nonsense like NIT, season's over, team sucks, etc. etc. Now two wins later over nobody's and all the prediction BS starts again. Like I've said all along....12-4 winners of the East.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
So, 5-1 the rest of the way? I'll take it and so would CBP! You DO know that would mean winning three out of four against OM, UK, UF, and USCe on the road, right? While beating MSU and Bama at home, of course. OK, just checking. Like I said, I will take it right now!
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