NASHVILLE - Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said what most anyone who witnessed the Vols' 59-49 win over LSU on Thursday was thinking.
"We have to play better to beat Ole Miss,'' Pearl said, looking ahead to today's second round SEC tournament game at Bridgestone Arena. "If we play like that tomorrow ... we'll get beat.''
When Pearl said "play like that'' he was referring to UT's woeful offensive execution against the Tigers.
The Vols shot .373 (19 of 51) from the floor and .174 (4 of 23) beyond the arc while committing 17 turnovers and dishing out just six assists.
"It wasn't a thing of beauty,'' said Pearl, whose Vols trailed by as many as seven in the first half en route to a 21-21 tie at intermission, "but it is called 'survive and advance.' ''
The 15th-ranked Vols (24-7) tip off against the Rebels (21-9) today (TV: WVLT, 3:15 p.m.). Both teams are riding four game win streaks.
Senior Wayne Chism is the only UT player who could be considered "hot," however, leading the Vols with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Chism was the sole Tennessee player to score through the opening 11 1/2 minutes.
"Everyone was talking about my one-point game at Mississippi State, but my teammates were scoring,'' Chism said. "Tonight, I had to score.''
Both teams struggled to score through the first 20 minutes, playing to a 21-21 halftime tie.
The Vols didn't take control against the Tigers (11-20) until Cameron Tatum scored off a Steven Pearl steal at the 14:27 mark, igniting an 8-0 run that Melvin Goins capped with a layup that made it 38-30 with 11:12 left.
Tatum hit a 3-pointer from the corner moments later, starting an 8-2 burst that J.P. Prince (11 points) put an exclamation point on with a dunk to make it 46-34 with 6:17 remaining.
LSU failed to draw closer than five from thereon, as Bobby Maze scored 11 of his 14 points over the final 2:02 - nine from the free-throw line.
"You put the ball in his (Maze's) hands late and you let him get fouled and close it out,'' Pearl said. "I'd single out Brian Williams; his 14 rebounds were really solid for us.
"If you had seen us through the season, you've seen us grind some games out. We've been doing it with defense and rebounding.''
As bad as the Vols were offensively, LSU was worse, shooting just .357 from the floor and .188 from 3-point range.
Tasmin Mitchell and Bo Spencer, the Tigers' top scorers this season, were held to 10 and five points, respectively.
"When Mitchell and Spencer account for about 45 percent of their offense, it makes sense to have those guys be the focal point,'' Pearl said. "Spencer was 1-of-10 shooting and Mitchell was 4 of 12, and a couple of them came late.''
Maze, who was credited with just one assist, said the Vols' were too impatient on the offensive end early.
"In the first half we just settled for shots, with the shot clock at 23 or 24 (seconds), when we should have ran it down and got better looks,'' Maze said. "In the second half we drove the ball inside and then kicked it out. We got some plays to Wayne, and got to the basket and attacked it.
"But we did a good job of playing defense, and that's why we won the game.''
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Tennessee 60, Connecticut 57 men's…
Tennessee 69, South Carolina 57 men's…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 43
dlobh writes:
I think we're all glad, Bruce.
10SCVOL writes:
UGLY! Scotty will have to step up offensively, but kudos to his defensive effort on Tasmin Mitchell. I don't see this team going very far with an effort like this one.
bmaples writes:
Almost every championship team has thrown a clunker in there somewhere along the way. Let's hope today was the clunker. Let's also hope we beat Ole Miss so we can play UK in the semis. And beat them.
lomas98 writes:
I would rather have this effort and still win instead of getting bounced. Just ask Syracuse or Pitt or Villanova in the big east which one they would take.
NoSirRee writes:
Just get it out of your system in the conference tournament
LCfastball writes:
Whewwwwwww That Was Close......
BradleyJKinkaid writes:
This team seems to have a penchant for playing up or down to its competition. At least I hope that's it. They come out swinging when their back's against the wall.
Someone call them and tell them their back is against the wall.
vol_4_fan writes:
We just made too many TO's and rushed 3 point shots. The defence was ther the whole game! It is my take that the turnovers & rushed shots were mistakes due to the Vols trying to blow the game open. Tomorrow we will play better 6-1 in the last 7 so I think this was a let down spot and we still win by 10! Go Vols
marinevol writes:
This win kind of reminds me of the girls in the bars around Camp Lejeune. It was kind of ugly, but I guess it's better than the alternative.
Orangeblood13 writes:
lol nice
TnScooby writes:
I know it was ugly but I'll take it...Maybe it was just a warmup for the next three days...lol...BTW, I love finding new ways to follow the Vols and this link has been great all year.....
http://www.lexy.com/#/feed?id=1206
I get texts from the site to keep me updated and thought y'all might like it too...And it's FREE!!!...lol
TnScooby writes:
You have to look under Tennessee Basketball...forgot to mention that
kyvol98 writes:
It is those ugly shoes! Burn them!!!!
Seriously, we will be alright
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
Can this be a 30 win team this year?????
That would involve winning the SEC and getting to the Elite 8. Doubt it. THis team needs the passion it found from the Charlotte-Kansas games when they were trying to prove something.
james#216392 writes:
When is Pearl going to learn that to attack a zone, you have to post someone at teh free throw line. He did it a couple times and got easy baskets but mostly against zone's, we shot 3's. We should have taken much more advantage of the inside. Pass it to the free throw line and things open up.
fundamentals83 writes:
I seriously think we could stand our players at the edge of the river and they couldn't hit water with their shot. I just don't understand how you make a D1 team and can't hit the open shot at least 50% of the time. (keyword open).
GreeneVol writes:
Thanks Scoob for the info. Found out through the audio recap that games can be seen on espn360.com - nice!
Gumby#1381110 writes:
It doesn't matter if you win pretty, just that you win!
woodwr#217203 writes:
Ole Miss can win their way from NIT to NCAA, if not today, certainly tomorow. They WANT to play Kentucky again.
UT is playing Ole Miss to keep a 4 seed instead of 5 seed.
I'm not sure these Volunteers WANT to play Kentucky again tomorrow.
However should Alabama win that quarter final, Tennessee has a much better shot at (third time charm) Commodores in the final. It is fun to play the team who just knocked off #2, much more fun than playing #2 for the two out of three game.
First round has avoid embarrassment incentive and semi-final has get to THE game incentive, but quarter final is tough to get up for.
Maybe playing so badly on thursday will help stir them to treat quarter final like first round?
VolJunkie writes:
Absolutely right. It would be one thing if yesterday's performance was indicative of how they have been playing lately ... it wasn't. I don't expect to see them struggle that much offensively again, and if you are going to have an off night, LSU is the team to have it against.
IMO, they will return to form against Ole Miss; looking forward to playing on Saturday and Sunday again this year!
BTW, anyone else think it's a good idea to have the conference championship on Saturday night (e.g. Big East)? Seems like an extra day of rest going into the NCAA tourney is a pretty good benefit.
Go Vols!
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
All things considered if we win 2 games in the big dance; I would call the season a big success!!To go further than that they will have to play with the intensity I see from teams like Marquette and Baylor..LSU seems to have lulled us to sleep..It did bother me that we didn't use the usual things that break up these annoying zone defenses..Nobody was setting screens;Nobody was making any cuts on the baseline or foul line; and for most of the game Maze wasn't penetrating to the basket which always loosens things up..Williams with his 14 rebounds was HUGE..This was Hopsons worst game of the season and hopefully he shakes it off..With McBee,Pearl and Hall producing more fouls and turnovers than points maybe they better stay on the bench..I found it amusing that with a nobody walk on like Ludwig defending in the paint that we didn't hammer them for 25 points under the basket..GO VOLS keep winning by whatever means it takes
mlynn1 writes:
Everyone should have expected this, having to play LSU. No matter who played them it was going to be ugly. That is the only way LSU can stay in a game.
Good win Vols, now "bring it" against Old Miss.
FearTheVols1252 writes:
I’m just hoping the poor performance can be attributed to tournament jitters and that they got it out of their system with LSU. Let’s hope we play better for Ole Miss. GO VOLS!
BeRealistic writes:
Hey Jarhead, been there, done that. Spent 18 mos. at Lejeune, 60-61. Hope our Vols get to KY. TOMORROW!!!! GBO
tulelakevol writes:
Whew! I hope they got that out of their system. I hope Hopson watched the film and snaps out of whatever is bothering him. I hope little Pearl can hold on to the ball for more than a second. Man, ugly game, but I will be cheering hard for my Vols today!! Beat Ole Piss!!!
UTByrd writes:
It seems to me that whenever a team, as well as an individual player, plays tenacious defense, the offense suffers. Defense wins championships in BB as well as FB.
CBP's game plan was to conserve as much energy for a 4 game run, therefore, no running and gunning offense. The VOLS will play better. Let us hope they play well enough to get to the championship game.
Go VOLS!!!!!
richvol writes:
Exactly...we looked like we had never seen a zone before. Quick threes,by a team like us that can't shoot them,is suicide. It was a pathetic effort...especially by Hopson.
tennrich1 writes:
Hopson must be playing phantom defense because when i isolate on his off the ball defense he seems clueless and uninspired with very little intensity..which is what is needed to play hawking defense...but if he HOLDS down the big scorer on the other team...far be it from me to disagree....
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Not sure there is an exact correlation between good defense and bad offense. In fact, we seem to score better when good defense leads to steals and run-outs. Teams that spend most of their practice time on defense may not be spending as much on their half-court offense, so there could be a correlation there, but in basketball, defensive intensity can actually help offensive production even if doesn't lead to precision in the half-court offense.
VolinCalif writes:
Hey Guys. Bruce said early that he had to prepare for both Old Miss and LSU at the same time. Now just which team would you have put the most effort into preparing for? You got it, so did he.
schymtz writes:
(From the old board) I know this is a basketball board and I am already focused of the big game at 3:15, but this was just too funny!
"Why Lane Kiffin Is America's Next Great College Football Coach"
by Danny Flynn
This is an article from the Beacher Report available at:
I know this is a basketball board and I am already focused of the big game at 3:15, but this was just too funny!
"Why Lane Kiffin Is America's Next Great College Football Coach"
by Danny Flynn
This is an article from the Beacher Report available at:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/36...
It describes a rather narcissistic personality disorder with attention-getting skills and ends with the quote: "The recruits will be watching as well and taking notice of what could be college football￢ﾀﾙs dominant coach of the future."
Thank you Lord that he is now USC's problem child!
It describes a rather narcissistic personality disorder with attention-getting skills and ends with the quote: "The recruits will be watching as well and taking notice of what could be college football's dominant coach of the future."
Thank you Lord that he is now USC's problem child!
schymtz writes:
Don't know how everything doubled up. Sorry
RoyaltyVol#280778 writes:
CBP is right, we have to play better to beat Ole Miss and Scotty Hopson maybe needs to be benched a game so he will get the message.
schymtz writes:
Lofton is on Tatum's shoulder and Prince settled for a lay-up instead of a crazy slam! 34-31 UT! GO VOLS! BEAT MISS!
UTVOLSRROCKN writes:
Jacking up the treys again...however, alot have gone in, thank goodness! Must play better in 2nd half! GBO!!!!!
schymtz writes:
UT CAN handle these guys! GO VOLS! WIN!
HtownVol writes:
Steven Pearl just missed a LAY UP!!!!!!!!
HtownVol writes:
TOO MANY FOULS!
UTVOLSRROCKN writes:
Woolridge hit a THREE!
HtownVol writes:
WOOLRIDGE!!! 3 POINTER!!!! YEAH BABY!!!!
49-45 TENNESSEE
HtownVol writes:
49-44 sorry
HtownVol writes:
53-44 UT!!
UTVOLSRROCKN writes:
WhooooooHoooooo! Take it Vols! GBO!!!
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.