Pons shines as Vols earn 27th straight home win
KNOXVILLE — Tennessee’s Yves Pons showed he’s capable of offering the scoring punch he hasn’t provided thus far in his college career.
Pons collected a careerhigh 15 points with seven rebounds and three blocked shots Tuesday night as the Volunteers opened their season by beating UNC Asheville 78-63 for their 27th consecutive home victory.
“He’s a great worker,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said of Pons. “I could put him up there with anybody we’ve had since we’ve been in coaching. He works at it. He’s going to do everything he can to do try to do it right, to a fault, to be honest with you.”
Lamonte’ Turner led Tennessee in scoring with 17 points, but Pons’ breakthrough garnered much of the postgame attention.
The 6-foot-6 junior guard/ forward from France made 13 starts last year but watched his role diminish as the season wore on. Pons scored a total of 13 points in Tennessee’s final 20 games.
Pons said he took about 300 shots per day during the offseason, focusing particularly on 3-point attempts.
“Every day, I put the shots in — on the weekends, on my days off,” Pons said. “I just never stopped.”
Tennessee needs more production from Pons as the Vols attempt to replace All-America forward and first-round draft pick Grant Williams as well as second-round draft choices Admiral Schofield and Jordan Bone from a team that reached the NCAA Sweet 16 last season.
UNC Asheville coach Mike Morrell marveled at Pons’ athletic ability Tuesday as the former VCU assistant compared him to Indianapolis Colts tight end and former VCU basketball player Mo Alie-Cox.
Now the Vols need him to score more often.
“I put a lot of pressure on me because I have high expectations for myself, high standards,” Pons said. “If I have a bad day, I’m really hard on me because I want to be great.”
Pons took a big step forward Tuesday as Tennessee gradually pulled away from the Big South Conference team coming off a 4-27 season.
UNCA’s LJ Thorpe made a driving basket to cut Tennessee’s lead to 36-30 with 19:39 left. Tennessee responded with a 15-1 spurt.
The Vols led by as many as 25 points before UNCA went on a late 12-0 run.