Awaka looks to build on busiest game yet
“It felt good being able to help the team try to win. It was a tough loss for all of us, but I think I’m being more focused in practice and understanding more of what the game plan is and what my matchup is in that specific game. I’ve just been focusing on that.” — TENNESSEE FRESHMAN FORWARD TOBE AWAKA
There weren’t a slew of bright spots for Tennessee in Wednesday night’s 66-65 loss at Vanderbilt, but freshman forward Tobe Awaka and his season-high 22 minutes would qualify.
The 6-foot-8, 250-pound freshman from Hyde Park, New York, tallied eight points and grabbed nine rebounds.
“It felt good being able to help the team try to win,” Awaka said Friday afternoon. “It was a tough loss for all of us, but I think I’m being more focused in practice and understanding more of what the game plan is and what my matchup is in that specific game. I’ve just been focusing on that.”
In the five games Awaka has played 15 minutes or more, he averaged 7.6 rebounds.
The No. 6 Volunteers, who are 19-5 overall and 8-3 in Southeastern Conference play, will look to bounce back Saturday night when they host vastly improved Missouri (18-6, 6-5). Tennessee has played 59 games since last losing consecutive contests, and the Tigers topped the Vols 73-64 during their last trip to Thompson-Boling Arena on Jan. 23, 2021.
Vols coach Rick Barnes reiterated some of his thoughts Friday about the late-game collapses inside Memorial Gym, and he added that turnovers were a problem. Tennessee averages 12.6 turnovers a game and had only nine against the Commodores, but Wednesday night was different.
“We played the lowestpossession game we’ve played all year,” Barnes said. “When you’re in a low-possession game, you’ve got to make sure you’re going to take care of the basketball, and the ones that we had, we just didn’t do that.”
When asked about Mizzou’s style, Barnes quickly said, “This may be the highest-possession game we play.”
“We just need to get back to playing our style of basketball, which is being aggressive,” Awaka said. “We need to get our edge back, and I think we will, because we have a lot of veteran guys.”
Injured James
Barnes said Friday that senior guard Josiah-Jordan James has used a walking boot since Wednesday’s loss and is very questionable for Saturday night. James injured his left ankle against the Commodores and was unable to play the final seven minutes.
Odds and ends
Tennessee holds an 11-8 series lead against Missouri, which includes a 5-3 advantage in Knoxville. … Vols senior guard Santiago Vescovi is shooting 71.4% from 3-point range (10-of-14) in four career games against the Tigers. … Missouri senior guard/forward Kobe Brown is averaging 18.2 points a game and shooting 52.6% from the floor in SEC games this season. … Barnes on Oklahoma and Texas joining the league in 2024: “It’s going to take the best conference and make it better.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.