Photo by Charlie Riedel
Tennessee and Kansas during the first half of the basketball game in Lawrence, Kan.
Photo by Charlie Riedel
Tennessee and Kansas during the first half of a the basketball game Saturday in Lawrence, Kan.
Tennessee Men's Basketball
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Tennessee's best effort wasn't enough to beat the defending national champions Saturday.
It wasn't even good enough to stay within double digits the majority of the game.
Kansas ran its homecourt win streak at Allen Fieldhouse to 32 games with a 92-85 victory over the 14th-ranked Vols (9-3).
The Jayhawks (10-3) ran out to a 20-9 lead at the 13:49 mark, and UT trailed by a double-digit margin for roughly 28 of the game's 33 remaining minutes.
UT coach Bruce Pearl conceded his young team was probably rattled by the raucous Rock-Chalking capacity crowd of 16,300 in the opening minutes.
Tyler Smith led UT with 21 points and nine rebounds, and Wayne Chism tied a school record with six blocked shots while scoring 17 points, pulling down eight rebounds and recording three steals.
Juniors Smith and Chism also helped trigger a late run, as the Vols outscored the Jayhawks 8-2 to close the game and make the score more respectable.
"Our two veterans played pretty well,'' Pearl said, referring to Smith and Chism, "but not as well as their two veterans.''
Kansas point guard Sherron Collins scored a career-high 26 points, with nine assists and five rebounds while 6-foot-11 Cole Aldrich had 22 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots. Both are sophomores, but both are considered veterans after the Jayhawks lost all starters from last season's team.
"Sherron and I have that extra edge from being in those games last year,'' Aldrich said. "Coach (Bill Self) tells us every day to go up and dunk the ball because it gives us momentum, especially at home.''
UT point guard Bobby Maze, who played at nearby Hutchinson Junior College before transferring to Knoxville, was held to 4-of-11 shooting and had four turnovers.
"They got a lot of easy baskets,'' Maze said. "That's the most dunks we've given up all season.''
Pearl noticed, and he wasn't happy.
"We really didn't have an answer for Collins; he did whatever he wanted out there,'' Pearl said. "We need to get a lot better at point guard play. We've been dominated at that position, particularly defensively.
"Offensively, Bobby and Josh (Tabb) are fine. They need to lock that position down more defensively.''
Pearl was relatively pleased with UT's zone defense, and at times the Vols' pressure was effective, as Kansas turned the ball over 17 times.
But even with 10 blocks as a team, UT could not match up man-to-man with the unranked Jayhawks.
"There wasn't enough purpose to our play,'' Pearl said. "What was our identity defensively? We didn't have one.''
Offensively, the Vols overcame a horrid-shooting first half that saw them make only 1 of 11 of their 3-point shots and shoot 29.7 percent from the floor as a team.
Tennessee made 8 of 15 3-pointers in the second half and shot 51.7 percent from the floor against the Big 12's top field-goal percentage defense.
"We should have done that in the first half, but there was a lack of focus,'' Chism said. "We made our comeback, but their freshmen didn't get rattled. Our defense just needs to pick it up.''
Smith agreed.
"We scored 85 points on the No. 1 defensive team in the Big 12,'' Smith said. "We had the points to win, but we've got to step up defensively.''
The Vols return to action Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena, when they'll put their 37-game homecourt win streak on the line against Gonzaga (TV: ESPN2, 9 p.m.). The Bulldogs beat the Vols 83-74 in Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 30.
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Comments » 183
overatedvols writes:
Ooppppss
volfan54 writes:
Scotty Hopson has got to learn to defend. i saw at least 3 times he watched his guy go dunk. i say sit him till he can play D. he is a net negative right now (defense worse than his offense is good). i know he will be great, but we need him this year!
dave1#220678 writes:
Bruce has got to get these boys to understand what half court offense and defense are. Too many quick 3s and no movement without the ball. Little driving to the basket. And too many layups for KU. Until they get that mastered, they will not beat the better non SEC teams.
morenoble writes:
If Bruce cannot coach defense, he had better hire a DC also; otherwise, maybe Lane will let Monte work parttime for Bruce!
sameolvolalum writes:
Bruce needs to study Dean Smith. Half court offense and defense aren't a Vols' strength. They'll need to be real soon. Other coaches have surely figured this one out.
vol98 writes:
This team looks chaotic, disorganized, and lost. Which is what past teams could look like also, but more often they were making the other team look worse. Not this team. Do we have a half court offense, or can we get one?
jimr07 writes:
just wondered if you have offered your expert advice to him?
dwa7#337691 writes:
My prediction (see under the Kansas story) was a 4 point loss for UT based on the Vols getting rattled early. We lost by 7. Sorry, but I call them like I see the. Lady Vols won a biggie!
redneckerson writes:
Bruce's teams used to be fun to watch, Even in a loss, we always saw effort and heart. This team is not fun to watch - no defensive skills, no heart.
jimr07 writes:
was this team over rated to begin with based on last years success?
carpentermike5#409005 writes:
Im pulling for this program as much as the next, but im really getting tired of the lack of organization, discipline. They have no clue what a game plan is. Its pass it around till u jack up 3's...this team cant shoot. Teams are playing zone D against us.. You have to shoot your way out of a Zone. We cant! Pearl has my backing, but this is getting out of hand...Its getting like we are all outside the fence at Rucker Park in NYC! Pearl has to get it together! Good Luck guys! Go Vols!
lomas98 writes:
Our half court defense has struggled all year. We have no solid 3 point shooters, yet we keep jacking them up. Lofton and Smith last year could shoot us out of bad possessions. That will not happen this year. This team is not built to come from behind and when we can't play solid half court defense, that will lead to trouble. If the poor defense keeps it up I think we must admit we are what we are. NOT a good defensive team. They must regroup for Wednesday in a rematch against a ranked team. Obviously Kansas played determined today and we could not match them. We found out what it is like to play a championship team. I say we will get better and maybe we can play our best in March instead of January this season.
jh18024 writes:
we are not as good as we think we are.
asleep#212036 writes:
Jimr07,
Yes. We have way too many new faces to be consistent this early in the season on the road against a good, well-coached team. Further, Lofton and J. Smith were leaders more than scorers last year. Several are trying to step up their play, but nobody has stepped up their leadership. The former will win a lot of games. The latter will help win the ones that really matter. It will come.
Second, we scored 85 points and lost - need I say more?
jh18024 writes:
not yet anyway
nathan_m writes:
Pearl is having a horribly gone-wrong experiment this season: highly touted players that have always had everything handed to them. Where's the passion? I feel like I'm watching a bunch of me-first babies out there every game! I saw about 3-4 min of tough bball when we got close and thought we might get a few more lucky threes... Besides that though, looked like a buncha dazed, lethargic, un-energetic, unorganized, poorly coached kids.
TommyJack writes:
They would play better if they all got rid of those stupid-azz halo doo-dads.
dvols writes:
exactly, ron slay is long gone!
when does football start?
wait, thats what we said about bball in football season?
what the heck...glug,glug,glug
vut56#231073 writes:
Sure, we have returned to exciting basketball during the last three years; however, it is what it is. Today, and in a couple of other losses, they looked no different than many of our other losing teams over the past few years.
We lost in a place today with a several decade long history of great basketball; the difference in our program and theirs (KS) showed on the floor.
If we don't have the horses, we must get them; if we got them, we must "coach them up." Seems we lacked it in both departments, today.
Hope it changes, but all the king's horses and all the posting here won't score a point; Coach BP has to go to work.
NorthwestVol writes:
Ugly. Looked slow. Lack of hustle. No real agression on defense. Lack of a floor leader. Did I miss anything?
Here's hoping Bruce can get these boys to play with a lot more energy. I understand a young team will make mistakes, but today's effort lacked heart. Perhaps overwhelmed by the atmosphere.
givehim6 writes:
well a rebuilding year for football and basketball both, well we allways have the lady Vols! Right?
Brentwoodvol writes:
Hope all you guys have a direct line to CP, because ya'll have it going on. My bet is BP knows what he is doing. He told us over and over it will take some time with these guys and it will. But don't count them out just yet, he is still the man!!!!
thevoice writes:
Better grow up fast and start playing team ball and defense boys. And get those tattoos off your arms too. You fellas look like human billboards.
SummittsCourt writes:
This is an example of a young team playing selfish basketball, but they will learn.
thevoice writes:
Uh... I think our tennis team is decent this year.
NorthwestVol writes:
So coming off an ugly loss with conference play about to begin, what's the over/under for wins in the conference?
TopTenn writes:
Right on the money. Hopson needs to sit until he improves his effort on defense.
chatteastbrainerd writes:
I really like Bruce Pearl and the success he has brought to Vol basketball. However, he did a far better job of coaching with his first team, Buzz's recruits, than he is doing with this team. This team lacks passion and unity. There is no Dane Bradshaw to lead this group. Except for Tyler Smith, Bobby Maze, and occasionally Wayne Chism, these players seem to by playing "me-ball" instead of Vol ball. The team has not played well since defeating Georgetown in November. CBP needs to take some coaching lessons from CPS, who is slowly turning a group of all-star freshmen and two sophomores into a team that plays unselfishly. Pat would never leave some of these men on the floor who don't play defense and keep jacking up 3's. They would be sitting on the bench like two Lady Vols are now doing who haven't learned how to give 100% for the team.
thevoice writes:
But we can be. It's an attitude. The big difference in this game was we chose not to play decent defense. Until this team decides to play defense, it's gonna be a long season. I hate to say this with the lack of team ball we played, but we're scoring enough points to wins all our games.
db11_cn writes:
My take is Self did a good job intimidating the refs in the first half with his tantrum. He did more than enough to get tossed. Then, Kansas got the call if UT breathed hard.
J.P. Prince has excellent talent, but he is such a drama king . . .the refs noticed and he got absolutely terrible calls in the second half. Prince can slash to the basket against any team in the country, but he has to realize every time he doesn't get a call, we don't lower the flag to half mast.
Maze has to lead the team on offense. T. Smith handles the ball outside too much. Hopson and Woolridge can't guard my 2 year old grandson.
PennVol writes:
No fundamentals on defense. No one does anything to prevent their guy from catching the ball. They watch players drive by them to the basket, nobody ever switches on defense to pick up the guy shooting a layup. They just stare at each other after the guy scores. We really struggle if we can't get turnovers off the press.
ncvol writes:
Sorry about the loss... Wish our men had been able to pull some magic out a hat today. Defense is lacking but I am sure it was hard to play in Kansas with hostile screaming fans.Hope we win the next one. Go Vols!
dvolsdacious#585217 writes:
No heart. This team sucks!
rbhobbs73#226545 writes:
A couple of points to make:
1) Losing at Kansas is not the end of the world.
2) That being said, our defensive effort was horrendous and you don't have to be Dean Smith or Bobby Knight to see it.
3) we do not have a very good shooting team, but we still scored 85 points.
So, despite our shooting problems, if we can just start playing good defense...we will be ok....that and the SEC is just plain BAD this year in basketball.
blitzshoot writes:
Choke. First half looked like they were trying to be the Harlem Globetrotters, but UT was missing the shots or getting them blocked. Even with a bail-out they couldn't buy one. This Kansas team is not that good and we found out Gonzaga is not the jugernaut everyone thought they were. Hate to say it but this team is over-rated and out-played. Didn't look like there was a game plan or any structure/adjustments throughout the game. These players are more worried about their looks than their play. Disappointed in Bruce Pearl on this one. KY is stepping up their game along with Florida. Ole Miss is not too shabby. This is not going to be a walk through the park this season in the SEC. Right now they are playing like a
"one and done" team for the NCAA. Work on layups for God sake. Embarrassing.
askUncleMaze writes:
I AGREE 100 % WITH YOU.. The Defense is so bad a good High school team would score 80 points on UT. I only see 3 out of 5 people playing Defense out there... We are shooting &missing waty to many 3's.
Coach_K writes:
Did I miss the J.P. Prince dunk extravaganza? Oh yeah, that's right...we have ALOT more to worry about than our dunking abilty. We need an outside presence! Maybe J.P. should pratice hitting tre's more than dunks. A heartbreaking loss for us, but we will be ok. I have faith in CBP. He'll get these boys along as the season progreses.
murrayvol writes:
I think we had outsized expectations for this team based on last years success.
As many have said we're not very good in half court and that's where NCAA tournament games are won and lost. We're still missing JuJuan......and a consistent 3 baller.
CT_VOL writes:
Another national embarassment. Why does tennssee love to choke when the whole country is watching? Our lack of performance on both sides of the ball was pathetic. Kiss the ranking and season goodbye. After two wake-up calls, its hard to believe a 3rd one is going to motivate this team.
Frank
798orange writes:
I think we will get better, these guys have not played together long enough yet. We really miss Chris and JaJuan for making a big shot, defensive stops and pressure as well as leadership. We are not wearing teams down like we used to. The chemistry will hopefully improve and we will start to have some patience in the half court to break down a zone. Tyler is good at finding an open man when doubled. Defense is a real concern though. It has got to get considerably better for us to go further. Hope this is a year when we can peak at tourney time. Is Ryan Childress going to play this year? The year before last he showed flashes of being pretty good. We could use another outside threat.
cainclifton23 writes:
Well im glad that we had a couple good years our fans are already getting spoiled.
We have all these new players. We were supposed to start slow.
We are not a top 10 team RIGHT NOW.
But playing these games (even if we are losing) kansas, gonzaga2, temple, marquette, Georgetown,
Are getting us ready for march. and thats all that matters
cainclifton23 writes:
Typical Red neck fan that knows nothing about basketball.
Have you seen Lebron James' arms?
Orangeblood13 writes:
Somebody tell me how Hopson gets to start
Chism again with a stupid shot selection late in the game
No rebounding
Poor help sude defence
No spot up shooters
We are in trouble come SEC play if we can't fix this
GR82BAVOL writes:
I only read a few comments before posting because I didn't want to be influenced in any way as to what I'd post.
This team didn't look ready today. Yep, they've had a lay-off, but one has to figure that the top notch teams use that extra time to be better prepared.
We just looked plain ole rusty. I also believe they're gonna have to move away from this "Helter Skelter" offense and run some O with a little more structure. I also think they need to either committ to the press or get back up the court. This "hybrid" press doesn't work.
Discipline, discipline, discipline...that's what the team needs. I believe oach Pearl needs to instill the structure in their game, then the discipline will come.
That being said, I wouldn't have wanted to have started after Christmas break in Allen Field House either. Tough place to win. The streak pretty much says it all.
budd#207344 writes:
Observations from today.
1. Tyler Smith is not ready for prime time
2. Bobby Maze is not "The Answer", "The Solution" , or even "The Question". He has simply regressed as a point guard.
3. The Globetrotters offense does not work in the half court set.
4. There needs to be more movement on offense rather than watching one or two guys do highlights.
5. Defense
6. Rebound
7. This is not last year's team. Adjust accordingly
Only 268 days till football
Beast writes:
Put Rico Mccoy in the defensive lane and LEAVE him there! I've never seen so many layups and dunks against 1 team in 1 game in my life. Adjust the damn defense coach!
NorthwestVol writes:
Not sure any Vol fan should be using the term 'redneck' in a negative manner. Besides, his comments on team play and defense were spot on.
NorthwestVol writes:
Move number 5 up to 1 and sign me up.
Beast writes:
That would be #7 coach!
cainclifton23 writes:
Are you serious?
Anyone can say, well we arent very gooa at half court defense.
Everyteam has weakness.
(and youre telling me the tat comment wasnt stupid?)
Kansas wasnt the NAT CHAMP last year for nothing, they run good plays and its hard to bring freshman and first year players into Allen Field house and win.
I hope all these people jumpin on the "over rated" band wagon stay off.
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