Vols hope to continue early success in SEC tournament
Vols need hot streak to extend their year
NASHVILLE — The navy blue hue, countless conference logos and wide hallways with beige walls probably prompted the memories to begin flowing for Tennessee senior Robert Hubbs III.
The Volunteers certainly don’t boast the best history when it comes to the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament, but they’ve lasted longer than expected each of the past two years, both times in Bridgestone Arena, where they will face Georgia this afternoon. The second-round game — the tournament opener for both teams — tips off at 1 p.m. Eastern.
Two years ago, Tennessee rallied in the second half for a final-minute win against in-state rival Vanderbilt and threatened league runner-up Arkansas before relenting. Last season, the Vols crushed Auburn and former coach Bruce Pearl, stunned Vanderbilt and pushed LSU and top NBA draft pick Ben Simmons into the final minutes.
“We’ve got to put that behind us,” Hubbs said Wednesday afternoon after Tennessee’s shootaround in Bridgestone Arena. “Last year can’t help us this year. We’ve got to come out and do what we do and just play together and just play hard.”
If the ninth-seeded Vols (16-15) don’t, their season will be over. They likely need multiple wins this week to extend their schedule beyond this tournament, but the reward for beating the eighth-seeded Bulldogs (18-13) would be a quarterfinal clash with top-seeded Kentucky (26-5) on Friday in what would be a de facto in-state road game.
After a brutal February that included a miserable loss at SEC struggler LSU, the Vols rallied from 16 down to beat Alabama in the regular-season finale this past Saturday and show second-year coach Rick Barnes a competitive fire remains in his team. The Vols’ hope is the momentum from the comeback rejuvenates them after their collapse down the stretch.
“I hope so,” Barnes said. “We’ll wait and see, obviously, but I thought their focus was good. We were down at halftime, and I don’t think we expected that to be that way. I thought they showed some maturity. When I was walking into the locker room (at halftime), I heard Admiral Schofield saying, ‘Hey, we’ve just got to keep defending and get more stops, and we’ll start making some shots.’ And we did.
“I’d like to think that they know that they’re capable. We’ve proven we can play with a lot of teams, but the whole key is this time of year there can be no letdown, and we’ve got to have everybody on edge.”
Tennessee’s hopes of lasting longer than one game this week may hinge on how freshmen such as Jordan Bone, Jordan Bowden, Lamonte Turner and Grant Williams handle the winor-go-home scenario. It would be natural for them to show some initial jitters as Schofield, a sophomore, can attest from his SEC tournament debut last season.
“Coach Barnes thought I was nervous,” he said. “I was just anxious. I wanted to compete. When they go out and get their first easy layup or dunk or whatever, they’ll calm down and they’ll be ready to go.”
Though half of Tennessee’s team was still in high school when the Vols won two SEC tournament games last season, the same lesson from the run can apply to this tournament and this team, which has nothing to lose.
“They came in last year, and we simply said this time of year is about those guys that really want to keep playing,” Barnes said. “We were in the (Wednesday night) games, which can be tough games, but yet we won the first one and came back and were able to beat Vanderbilt. We had a great crowd in here, and that was great for us.
“I think as a coach, this time of year the biggest disappointment you can have probably is if you don’t feel like your guys want to keep playing, because that’s what you want. This time of year you just want to be able to keep playing, and you hope they go out and make that kind of effort.”
Hubbs firmly believes his team wants to keep playing and understands the setting awaiting the Vols.
“We played here before earlier in the season versus Gonzaga (in December), so I think they’re used to the scenery,” he said. “But it’s different play now. We’re in postseason play, so every little play matters right now.
“We plan to keep playing, so tomorrow we need to come out, be laser-like focused and get the job done.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.