LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky’s Big Blue mist washing over him, the deficit devouring his timid team, Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl nevertheless kept trying anything and everything to pick up his second win in Rupp Arena in four visits.
He drew a technical foul. He ran everybody in a Big Orange uniform at UK’s Jodie Meeks, who scored 54 on the Vols earlier this season but a mere 14 on Saturday.
Pearl got in his players’ faces. He patted them on the back. He frowned. He grinned. He perspired through his electric orange sport coat as only Pearl can perspire.
His team? Not so much.
“We didn’t play with poise, passion or with purpose,” Pearl said after the Wildcats’ 77-58 victory knocked the Vols out of a four-way tie for first in the SEC East.
Then he said the one thing no athlete or fan wants to hear: “And I thought there were times when we quit.”
Other than that, of course, the Big Orange spent a splendid afternoon in the Bluegrass.
And lest one think Pearl is throwing this bunch under the bus after its second straight double-digit road loss, he made sure to include himself in the critique.
“As a head coach, I have never been so embarrassed by how I coached,” he said. “I apologize to our fans and the University of Tennessee.”
The Big Orange Nation will no doubt graciously accept his apology. After all, Pearl remains the winningest coach in conference play during his three-plus seasons at UT.
Nor does this loss, despite dropping the Vols to 7-5 in the East and 16-10 overall, necessarily signal the end of anything. Four league games remain, beginning with Mississippi State’s visit to Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday.
Win three of those four and it’d difficult to see the Vols missing the NCAA tournament, given they currently have the nation’s second toughest schedule and an RPI ranking in the 20s. Even a 9-7 SEC mark might have the Vols dancing rather than NIT-ting come March.
But by almost any measuring stick save a fourth straight NCAA berth, this season has been a disappointment to date. Picked to win the SEC at season’s dawn, the Vols are now in danger of finishing third or fourth in the East.
Despite having what junior guard Josh Tabb claims is “the talent to reach the Elite Eight,” the Vols have now been accused of quitting by their fiery coach.
And they have arguably saved two of their worst efforts of the season for King Kong Kentucky. Pearl now has a 3-5 record against the Cats, his only losing mark against an SEC East opponent.
Those 54 points Meeks scored against the Vols in January during a 90-72 UK win were tough enough. But this was worse. Darius Miller, a player who grew up idolizing former Vol Chris Lofton — and a player Pearl tried awfully hard to recruit from the same Mason County (Ky.) High that had produced Lofton — scored 17 points Saturday without missing a shot.
Naturally, Lofton was in the stands, cheering the Vols but also cheering Miller.
“Oh, I’ve looked up to Chris since I was middle school or younger,” Miller said. “He’s always talking to me, always encouraging me.”
Said Lofton: “That’s the way I thought he could play all year.”
The way the Vols were supposed to play all year was like a Top Ten team, which is where they were ranked early on. But they have spent much of this winter looking as if the only time they get together is game days.
And no one can blame this on former coach Buzz Peterson. In fact, one could argue that Pearl was a much better coach with Peterson’s players than he has been with his own.
This might not be fair, of course. Pearl was due a mini-rebuilding year after his amazing run of three NCAA appearances and two Sweet 16s in his first three years. And if juniors Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism remain, UT could be a good deal tougher next year.
But these Vols also appear to be getting worse rather than better as the season progresses.
“Every team has issues if you’re losing,” Tabb noted. “Hopefully we’ll have a meeting as soon as we get home and find a way to fix this.”
When one of those issues is quitting against your most bitter rival, it’s tough to see a run to the Elite Eight occurring in any tournament except the NIT.
Mark Wiedmer started work at the Chattanooga News-Free Press on Valentine’s Day of 1983. At the time, he had to get an advance from his boss to buy a Valentine gift for his wife. Mark was hired as a graphic artist but quickly moved to sports, where he oversaw prep football for a time, won the “Pick’ em” box in 1985 and took over the UTC basketball beat the following year. By 1990, he was ...
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