Punter taking charge for Vols
KNOXVILLE — There’s no such thing as being too aggressive for Kevin Punter Jr.
The more Tennessee’s senior basketball guard and leading scorer is pushing the tempo and attacking the basket, the better it is for the Volunteers.
There have been times this season, most recently in Saturday’s SEC-opening loss to Auburn, when Punter has tried to take a game over and basically score on every trip down the floor.
First- year coach Rick Barnes wants to see more of it, starting in Wednesday’s SEC home opener against Florida.
“We wish he had that menta l i ty all the time, because with the way our system runs we want him in the attack mode ,” Barnes said Monday. “If he’s in the attack mode and everybody else does what they’re supposed to do, I think he’ll find them. Once he starts driving the ball, it opens up the outside lanes.
“If people stay out wide and we’re making 3s, it’s going to give him a chance to play inside of it.”
Punter is second in the SEC in scoring at 22.8 points per game, ahead of LSU star and future top NBA draft pick Ben Simmons ( 20.5) and trailing only Stefan Moody (23.7) of Ole Miss.
The 6-foot-2 junior college transfer from The Bronx in New York matched a career high in a 31- point outburst — his second
31-point game of the season — in the 83-77 loss to the Tigers on Saturday. During one stretch in the first half, Punter scored 14 straight points.
He scored 11 in a row in the win against Florida Atlantic last month, he had an 18- point half against UNC Asheville in November and he recorded 17-point halves against Marshall and Butler.
“It’s not too difficult for me, to be honest with you,” Punter said. “Coach always wants me to be in attack mode, and for us to be successful I have to be in attack mode, whether it’s me scoring or driving to kick to my teammates.”
Punter came to Tennessee with a reputation as a big- time scorer, but he struggled with his shot and averaged just 10 points per game playing for Donnie Tyndall last season. He credited Barnes, who helped him tweak his shooting motion, and how much his coach trusts him for an increase in confidence this season.
He’s scored 20 or more points 10 times this season, including a seven- game stretch of 20-point games, the longest such streak by a Tennessee player since Ron Slay in 2003.
Punter said he doesn’t feel extra pressure to score more for Tennessee to win.
“I just always try to do what Coach tells me to do — attack and get my teammates involved,” he said. “Scoring pretty much comes natural for me, and it ends up happening.”