Robert Hubbs 'putting it together' for Tennessee Vols

Tennessee guard Robert Hubbs III (3).
Tennessee guard Robert Hubbs III (3).

KNOXVILLE -- Robert Hubbs had been waiting for a moment like the one he got on Tuesday night, when the basketball found the Tennessee guard open in the corner.

Arkansas, ranked 19th in the country, had whittled a 16-point lead down to nine with more than six minutes remaining, and the Volunteers were teetering.

Then Hubbs, the former five-star recruit, hit a 3-pointer that stemmed the Razorbacks' tide long enough for Tennessee to survive, and the sophomore later hit two important free throws on a night where he scored a career-high 16 points in his team's 74-69 win.

"I was just wide open," Hubbs said, shrugging off the magnitude of what may have been the biggest shot of his career. "I didn't really even think it was that big of a 3. I was wide open and raised up and shot the ball.

"If I'm open, I'm going to always take the shot."

Hubbs is taking them with more confidence nowadays.

His 2-of-10 shooting performance in Tennessee's loss to Alabama on Saturday was a blip in the recent momentum he's built with improved play that followed a stretch where he essentially was invisible.

Hubbs scored one point in a three-game stretch in December that ended with him going scoreless in six minutes against Tennessee Tech, but in the past six games, the 6-foot-6 Hubbs is averaging 9.5 points and shooting better than 47 percent from the field with eight 3-pointers.

The stretch includes games where Hubbs notched season-highs in rebounds (five) and assists (four).

"I've seen a lot of flashes, and I just think he's putting it together," teammate Josh Richardson said.

"He's not as reluctant to shoot the ball anymore. He has a lot of confidence in himself now. Before he would play a little timid or miss (shots) short a lot, because he just wasn't having faith in it. I think he's doing a great job of putting everything together and playing confident."

Hubbs played 15 minutes per game in Tennessee's first nine games, but he's playing 25 minutes per night over the last six games and was in the game for 28 minutes in a start against Arkansas after playing 30 minutes against Alabama.

"Robert played fantastic," Vols coach Donnie Tyndall said. "I'm going to always be greedy, and he knows that. I'd love for him to have more (than two) rebounds in 28 minutes of play.

"I don't think he settled one time tonight. He drove the ball and got to the rim. He did go to the glass a few times, and even though he didn't get it, he kept it alive for a teammate to get it.

"I'm proud of his progress. As I've said about Robert since my first workout with him in June, he's a very, very coachable young guy. He's got a lot of room to continue to grow and improve, and he's receptive to that. That's why he continues to get better."

Hubbs came to Tennessee two summers ago with high expectations as the second five-star player former Cuonzo Martin pulled to Tennessee, but he played just 12 games in 2013-14 before a lingering shoulder injury required season-ending surgery.

For most of this season, Hubbs looked like he was playing with the weight of the high external expectations on his shoulders, and he scored just 27 points and never played more than 25 minutes in Tennessee's first nine games.

"He's a great player," Vols forward Armani Moore said. "Everybody's been expecting so much from him, but with the confidence he's been showing that he's gotten in practice, we just keep pushing him and encouraging him."

Against Tennessee State, Hubbs matched his previous career-high, set against The Citadel last season, of 11 points, but he surpassed that on his big 3 on Tuesday night.

And it came after he got up extra shots on Sunday and again following Monday's practice.

"It's a little more satisfying," he said, "but we can't get too satisfied."

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