Slowing Vols not same as stopping
KNOXVILLE — On multiple occasions during the Tennessee men’s basketball team’s current 17-game winning streak, opponents have attempted to make the Volunteers grind out victories.
On multiple occasions, topranked Tennessee has shown it’s more than capable of doing that.
The Vols provided another example Tuesday night, when they never were really threatened — yet never really pulled away in a 72-60 win against Missouri. The Vols (21-1, 9-0 Southeastern Conference) will have the chance to run their streak to 18 games when they host Florida (12-10, 4-5) on Saturday, but their late-night performance against the Tigers (1110, 2-7) wasn’t as flashy as some of the victories in the streak.
Although the Vols shot a solid 49 percent from the field and totaled 19 assists, it was their defense that carried them, seemingly a blast from the past because most of the wins during their 2017-18 season came by virtue of that aspect of the game. Missouri, which entered the game as the top 3-point shooting team in the SEC, was held to eight made 3s in 27 attempts and 35 percent shooting from the field, the Tigers’ worst performance of the season.
Vols coach Rick Barnes noted games like Tuesday’s were typical of “a lot of the games that we won last year.”
“I thought defensively, either they wanted to get into long offensive possessions or we were getting them into long offensive possessions,” Barnes said. “The only thing we didn’t do, we didn’t rebound the ball the way we should have, but I did think defensively we were on point with what we were trying to do and followed the game plan.
“Some of that had to do with we were playing defense for long possessions. We settled too much for jump shots. With the way they were playing defense, the way we knew they’d play defense, it’s hard to get offensive rebounds if you don’t get smitten with the ball.”
With opponents wary of Tennessee’s high-powered offense, some have gone to a more physical style of defense, trying to slow the Vols down, get them off their spots and generally make things more difficult — all to avoid playing a full-court game against an offense that has averaged 86 points per game and shot 52 percent from the field.
Georgia Tech tried it early in the season. Alabama was able to slow the Vols down, as was Missouri for the most part.
Having had success in such games this season could only bode well for the Vols going forward, because it’s likely they’ll see that approach again.
“We knew they were going to give us a tough, hard-fought game, and they never gave up,” Tennessee junior guard Jordan Bowden said Tuesday night. “We are used to tough games, but it really is just about us going out there and executing.”