Tennessee Men's Basketball
J. P. Prince raised his game to unexpected heights Wednesday night but couldn't carry his team with him.
Tennessee's 6-foot-7 senior made nine of 10 field-goal attempts, scored a team-high 22 points and had three steals in the Vols' 85-76 loss to Vanderbilt at Thompson-Boling Arena.
He has filled out stat lines before. The wild card was his 3-point shooting.
Prince entered the game 6-for-44 on 3-pointers in his three seasons at UT. He was 2-for-2 against the Commodores.
"I thought J.P. played terrific," UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "He really stepped up his game."
Prince's timing was as significant as his production.
Scotty Hopson and Kenny Hall picked up their fourth foul in the first three minutes of the second half and sat out most of the last 18 minutes. Senior Wayne Chism, who was averaging 14.3 points per game against Vanderbilt for his career, had an off night shooting, hitting only two of nine shots.
"J.P. is one of our best players now," Pearl said. "He looks at our roster (depleted by the dismissal of star Tyler Smith and the suspension of Brian Williams) and says, 'I've got to step up.' "
Even when Prince made mistakes, he added to his highlight video. He was called for two technical fouls, one for hanging on the rim after a dunk.
"The technical on J.P.'s dunk was, at the time, a momentum shifter," Pearl said. "It's certainly a call that could be made.
"I've seen that call made. I've seen it not made."
Prince's dunk gave the Vols a five-point lead early in the second half. They led by as many as six before the Commodores outscored them 23-5 to take control.
Prince was called for another technical when he elbowed Andre Walker as they were running down court. Walker also was called for a technical foul on the play.
Prince declined a request to meet with media after the game.
Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.
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Comments » 31
cdonsbach writes:
Worst officiating I've ever seen.
Jwoody423 writes:
Rich, did you watch the game bud?
He had the double tech prior to "hanging" on the rim. What most replays did not show was the Vandy player behind J.P. IMHO, I am not sure he knew the player wasn't closer to him. You are, in my understanding, allowed to hang on the rim if to avoid another player. I felt that play was more closely interpreted as that. He did NOT show up anybody, he did not showboat anything. He simply made a great play and was penalized unnecessarily.
bspurlingcac#225603 writes:
You got that right!!!
UTVOLSRROCKN writes:
As much as I have harped on "JPitis"..I have to at least give him props for his point production and his two 3's in for this game. Now if he could get the rest of his game in control...that would be sweet! IMO, on all the replays, it DID look like he intentionally hit the other player in the face with his right forearm and elbow. I thought for a minute that not only would he be kicked out of the game, but that he would face at least one suspension or more. I was SHOCKED but very happy that the refs just called a double technical and left it at that. It could have turned out much worse. As many bonehead plays that he does make, he turns around and makes brillant plays, so we have to take the bad with the good in him, because at this time, the team does need him on the floor most of the time....come what may........
VOLS.....TCB.....KOKO.....GBO!!!!!!!!!!
UTVOLSRROCKN writes:
No, not nearly as bad as the LADY VOLS get...not even close...but I agree it was bad at times.
eb502us#225637 writes:
As agressive as he was last night, Prince again shows his low BB IQ and immaturity.
I've think most Vols fans have grown to expect that Prince will provide two things in every game. Boneheaded plays and turnovers. And as we saw last night, they don't always go hand in hand.
To sing his praises after this game just shows the lack of understanding of what SENIOR LEADERSHIP really is. And lets not kid ourselves, both technicals were deserved.
LadyVolFan writes:
Did anyone besides me see the Vandy player hanging onto Prince's jersey during this whole double technical fiasco? He was trapped between two players with one pulling at his jersey and the other leaning on his back. Looked to me like the right hand and arm was just coming down to his side on his way up to the basket. I don't think he was slapping the guy, but he gets a bad rap because of some of the bad choices he has made before. Prince has been playing with so much heart since the other boneheads did all that mess. I have to give him props. He may not always put up the offensive numbers but his defensive work has been pretty awesome in my opinion.
SmokeytheVol writes:
both of these happened right in front me and from what i could tell JP was definitely tryin to elbow the guy in the head as he was comin down but the hanging on the rim i just dont know about. it was a little showboating but shouldnt have been called. lady vols have gotten worse but pretty bad officiating to say the least
TommyJack writes:
But really, Adams. The headline is downright cheesy.
GreerVol22 writes:
Prince did as he always does. Equally frustrating as he is amazing on some of his moves and defense. Bonehead fouls by Scotty and more touch fouls called on Chism. I hope the attitude is sour, maybe they will wake up.
BigOrange_supporter writes:
WAA WAA WAA. We lost, played worse than Vandy. Move on. You can't blame the refs for everything. Also a top 20 team losing at HOME is bad, very bad. Get back up and play again.
kevin151 writes:
I'll admit Prince played yesterday well but the team will be much better without him next year. He can't shoot, constantly turns the ball over, and his basketball IQ is missing.
lomas98 writes:
The hanging on the rim was a judgement call and I have seen it called and not called. He wasn't hanging to protect himself though. He actually did a mini chin up. If his attitude wasn't bad and didn't already have 1 technical maybe he gets away with it. A lot of times the refs will make those calls based on how the player's attitude is during the particular game. Prince being a punk is one thing you can't argue with.
tomkats3242 writes:
You give him too much credit. His IQ appears to be near 30. He has caused this team more losses than anyone else. When is Tennessee going to get rid of trouble makers, mouths, and those that don't care. FIRE Hamiliton also.
james#216392 writes:
Prince played well, stat wise. If I had been the officials, he would have been ejected for the hit to the face of the Vandy player. I officiated several years and he clearly turns toward the player and hits him. Clearly not accidental, as I first thought. He would have been gone at that point. I keep wondering when he is going to grow up.
I don't understand our defense. They player harder than I ever saw them play to take the lead then didn't play any defense after that. McBee is killing us. His three point attempts were not close. He shot us out of the game when we needed answers. Clearly a walk on or small college player at best. Coaches' son shouldn't be seeing the floor nearly as much as he is. He is painful to watch. (But did have a great shot at the end of first half).
I keep saying we need to set someone at the foul line. On the first possession we did that and got an easy two. Never did it again all night. What's with passing it around until the clock expires and throw up a wild three?
Scotty, Chism and Hall put in good efforts. Prince was Prince, some good some bad. Where did Woolridge and Maze go? They haven't showed up in the last two or three games. Better get our act together again or its going to get ulgy.
Ayres_Hall writes:
Regarding the title of this article I must say... "YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT?"
Reporters and fans should try watching the game without following the ball. JP Prince is a horrible basketball player (for the years having played the game). Oh, he does have one game a year where he scores a lot and performs some uberhuman acts. However, 90% of the time he is loafing, out of place, and giving the ball over on turnovers. I'd take a one hundred less-talented and undersized Dane Bradshaws over one JP Prince and beat your team 99% of the time.
dlobh writes:
Coach Stalllings yells at his player when he starts to mouth off and tells him to shut up, that he doesn't care what one of the UT players did. But not UT's players. Prince is swinging at a player on the other team, yells and does pullups when he dunks (aren't 6'7" players supposed to be able to dunk?), and Chism yells when he blocks a shot and we're 10 points down near the end. I could possible see getting excited if it was a game changing or winning play, but when you have obviously lost? Grow up. By the way, the headline "Prince is royalty . . . "? He will never be because of his behavior.
Maze was steady - 12 points, 7 assists, 1 turnover, though he didn't shoot it well. Could have used Hopson on the floor instead of on the bench in the 2nd half. Needed the firepower. Though it's hard to say, Vandy was just better this time.
Cash writes:
Princess is a legend in his own mind. you can see that in his eyes, facial expressions and body language.
the team looked FLAT.
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
JP hangs on the rim on every dunk he makes just as he screams on every reverse layup or uncontested dunk. That is just JP and his hot dog style. He has a BB IQ of just under 40 and doesn't know when to do these things and when not to. Most of his rim hangings have no one under him and he should have been thrown out of the game last night, replays show he swung at the guy.
huntined#565710 writes:
This loss at home hurts. We can't let teams come in and win if we are going to be among the top teams in the SEC. Ga. not good but beat us in their house. S.C. beat KY. You have to win the home games or it will make it double tough to stay close to the top. Losing Smith is showing up now as we don't have a inside game or any kind of a leader. We were set to really be the top team in the SEC and NOW WILL BE HARD TO FINISH 3RD IN THE EAST. FLA will not be a easy game as they had 3 guys score over 20 against GA.
Our team has to play some D and be ready for the press or they will lose. Someone has got to drive to the basket more then once a game.
tmartin writes:
No one cares. please reserve your lady vol comments for their website.
rbromley7#241642 writes:
Glad to see the team playing "Tennessee" basketball. The high post and roll, the setting of pick/screens to free the better shooters, the smart fouls, and team defense.
razin55 writes:
I dont know about Rich but I did watch the game and I too would have called the T on JP. He is a show off when he does something he normaly should be doing. He did hang on the rim and as I sat there I was surprised it wasnt called a few seconds earlier.
Yes your interpretation of the rule is correct, but the Vandy player closest to the goal was a good 2 steps away from him.
Prince had a great game (his dad was there to watch) and he kept us in in it. But this was far and above his norm. UT fans are accustom to his good-play dumb play game. I give his credit for this one, but not his boneheaded, showboat, hanging on the rim show.
KCSD writes:
Quick JJ release some more inmates - we need fresh blood. Wonder if USC needs a basketball coach?
ralphie writes:
vols will be lucky to be .500 in conference. pearl is reaping what he sowed.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I watched that play and the dozen or so replays that followed. I didn't see a Vandy player behind him, but I DID see him yank on the rim while suspended from it, do a little shimmy-shake, and yell to call attention to himself. Hanging on the rim is one thing; yanking on it while doing the Twist is quite another.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I saw the Vandy guy holding his shirt and muscling him out as he cut across the lane. He was also drawing a personal foul that the ref called on the Vandy guy. It did look to me like he lashed out at the guy and NOT as part of a "basketball move". If he had just kept his cool, we would have had the ball out of bounds with a chance to score again, since I don't think he was shooting yet and we were not in the bonus. Instead, by lashing out, he caused about a 10-minute break in the action while the refs studied the monitor over and over again, robbing the team of any momentum they were getting at that point.
However, you are absolutely right about his "bad rep" playing into the calls he gets. He has always been a "pouter" who whines about any call or non-call that doesn't go his way. I have a pretty low opinion of many college refs, but the worse they are, the more they hate a player who tries to "show them up" by posturing and whining, and they ARE the guys with the whistles!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I mostly agree with you, but the ONLY reason Steven is getting so many minutes is because Wayne and Kenny get in foul trouble too easily and Woolridge is generally soft on defense and rebounding. It is much the same with McBee, in that he mostly plays when Scotty is not going good or in foul trouble. I hope to see Tatum get more of McBee's minutes going forward. We shouldn't be too hard on McBee, as he is clearly giving it everything he's got, but no question he has been rushed into major minutes too soon in his career. Maze had 12 points, BTW, though he did let Beal get away from him a little too often. Trying to help on other guys and leaving a cool, effective PG like Beal alone was not especially smart.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
She was responding to another poster who said that the men's team seems to get the worst officiating he/she had ever seen. If you ever watched a Lady Vols game, you would know that the women's game refs are among the worst you will ever see on a routine basis.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
And, yes, some of us DO care about the Lady Vols. For that matter, you might not believe how many people post on THEIR articles about such irrelevancies, in that context, as football recruiting.
magicbyswh#221420 writes:
Prince is a role player who kills the vols with his turnovers and he is probably the worst show boater I can remember at Tennessee. After he dunks the other team is on the way back down the floor while he is showing off by looking in the stands or screaming. Put an end to this Bruce! 2 technical fouls on a senior who thinks he is much better than he is. Get over it Prince you are not as good as you think. Pitiful
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