Vols breeze to 86-44 victory
“It was a great first game for guys to get their feet wet and get a little taste of what it’s like to play on this level.” – ADMIRAL SCHOFIELD
KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee men’s basketball team encountered a foreign concept in its exhibition opener against Carson-Newman on Thursday night.
A Carson-Newman starting lineup that included no players over 6-foot-5 came out in a zone defense with the hopes of tempting Tennessee into 3-point looks.
It worked — just not the way the NCAA Division II Eagles hoped it would.
The Volunteers hit three consecutive treys to start the game and cruised to an 86-44 victory at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Tennessee spent the preseason focusing on man-to-man defense. By extension, junior forward Admiral Schofield explained that the Vols “never” practice against a zone defense.
“This was really good for us,” coach Rick Barnes said before praising Carson-Newman’s zone. “Throughout the game, they were doing some different things. What we didn’t do in the first half was get the ball inside. We were on pace to shoot like 50 3s. And I’m not saying any of them were bad shots. But they would have loved for us to shoot 50 3s.”
Barnes grew weary of Tennessee’s reliance on the long ball, and the team shifted gears as the game progressed.
The Vols attempted 10 3s in the second half and prioritized inside options after attempting 24 3s in the first half. Tennessee scored 24 of its 34 paint points after halftime, led by sophomore forward Grant Williams. Williams led the team with 18 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.
Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner each hit three triples, while Jordan Bone, Admiral Schofield each added two for the Vols, who play an exhibition game at Clemson on Sunday before opening the regular season against Presbyterian next Friday.
Schofield had 17 points, point guard Jordan Bone had eight assists and 10 players played at least 12 minutes for Tennessee. The Vols forced 24 turnovers.
“It was a great first game,” Schofield said, “for guys to get their feet wet and get a little taste of what it’s like to play on this level.”
And a rare taste of what it’s like to play against a zone.
“There’s a temptation to shoot,” Schofield said. “It’s just so open.”
Fulkerson returns
John Fulkerson returned to action for the first time since undergoing two surgeries. The redshirt freshman forward played 10 minutes and scored two points on a pair of free throws. Fulkerson missed his three attempts from the field and had three turnovers in his first game action since Dec. 15.
“He’s only been totally cleared for a week and a half, if that,” Barnes said. “Fulky has get himself back in shape and he’s got to play more. He’ll get it back. There’s no doubt he’ll get it back.”
Debut performances
Yves Pons, Derrick Walker, Zach Kent and James Daniel made their Thompson-Boling Arena debuts. Pons, a freshman from France, went above the rim to block a layup attempt by Carson-Newman’s Charles Clark with 4:39 left in the game. He did not score in 15 minutes.
Daniel entered off the bench early in the first half and tied for the team lead in minutes with 23. The graduate transfer guard from Howard University had six points and four assists in his first game since missing nearly all of the 2016-17 season at Howard with an ankle injury.
Walker, a 6-foot-8 freshman who recently missed two weeks of practice with a concussion, started and had five points and one rebound in 12 minutes. Kent, a 6-10 freshman, entered in the second half and played eight minutes, scoring four points.
Redshirt freshman wing Jalen Johnson and junior college transfer guard Chris Darrington were held out with injuries.
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.