By Jay King
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – This was an absolutely brutal way to get eliminated from the SEC Tournament.
The Tennessee Volunteers faced off against the Vanderbilt Commodores for the third time in 20 days, and lost to them for the second time in six days. 68-75 was the final score in this one.
“It comes down to executing, [and] taking care of little things,” said sophomore guard Bishop Boswell. “They did that better than we did.”
However, the officiating mishaps were hard to ignore. There were plenty of questionable calls going against the Vols, especially in the second half, including multiple clean blocks that were called as shooting fouls.
The officiating could have been better, but is it appropriate to pin this loss on the refs? Absolutely not.
While there were a few questionable calls here and there, Tennessee and Vanderbilt shot the same number of free throws. The difference was that Vanderbilt made 22 out of the 26, while Tennessee made only 16.
The refs are an easy scapegoat, but Tennessee let multiple opportunities go to waste.
There was a five-and-a-half-minute stretch where Vanderbilt scored nine points, but only on free throws.
For the Volunteers, the shooting was abysmal. Regardless of how well the defense plays, it is remarkably difficult to win a basketball game while shooting 4-17 from beyond the arc.
As mentioned earlier (and all season long), free-throw shooting was unsatisfactory. Converting on just 16 of 26 opportunities from the charity stripe is a surefire way to lose.
When you look at the turnover margin, Tennessee lost 9-6, which at first glance does not appear to be disastrous.
Unfortunately for Tennessee, the turnover margin in the second half was 7-2.
“[We need to] be smart in those moments,” said Boswell. “We had a lead and had two turnovers… and those are big plays that we can not have.”
Lastly, stopping Vanderbilt’s Duke Miles was a tall task. He had 30 points on the day with unreal efficiency. Miles sank his first nine shots, going 11/14 from the field, and 4/5 from three.
Looking Forward:
It is not a question of whether this team will make the tournament, as they are a lock. The question is what seed they will be, and how far they will go.
Starting with seeding, Joe Lunardi’s bracketology has the Volunteers as a five-seed, and that will more than likely stay the same.
Now, when discussing how the Vols will finish, it is likely that this team will not make a deep run in the tournament. While the sweet 16 is attainable, the Round of 32 is where the Volunteers will likely meet their season’s bitter end.
This may seem harsh, as Tennessee had its two best seasons in the last two years, reaching the Elite Eight both times, but this is not the same team as it was in years past.
Every shortcoming of this Tennessee team has been consistent throughout the season, making this team remarkably predictable.
These flaws include being sub-par at free throw and three-point shooting, turnover issues, giving up unnecessary runs, and a complete lack of backcourt scoring (outside of Ja’Kobi Gillespie).
Tennessee has failed to address these problems throughout the season, and unless a miracle happens in the next week in practice, it looks like this team is in for a rude awakening.