Vols vow to get better after loss

Tennessee's Grant Williams, middle, tries to pull in a loose ball between Kentucky's Reid Travis, left, and Tyler Herro during the second half of Saturday night's game in Lexington, Ky. Kentucky won 86-69.
Tennessee's Grant Williams, middle, tries to pull in a loose ball between Kentucky's Reid Travis, left, and Tyler Herro during the second half of Saturday night's game in Lexington, Ky. Kentucky won 86-69.
photo Tennessee's Grant Williams, middle, tries to pull in a loose ball between Kentucky's Reid Travis, left, and Tyler Herro during the second half of Saturday night's game in Lexington, Ky. Kentucky won 86-69.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Since a 75-72 victory over then-No. 1 Gonzaga on Dec. 9 in Phoenix, the road for the Tennessee men's basketball team has been a trying one - but not necessarily a difficult one in terms of competition.

Of the top-ranked Volunteers' program-record 19 consecutive wins before their 86-69 loss Saturday night at No. 5 Kentucky, the margin of victory was double digits in 17 of them. None of the wins in the streak came against a ranked opponent, and only one came against a team that was in ESPN's latest NCAA tournament projection (Alabama).

The first win in the streak, a 95-67 victory against Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 28, came less than a week after the then-No. 5 Vols lost 87-81 in overtime to then-No. 2 Kansas in Brooklyn, New York. The last win in streak came this past Wednesday in Knoxville, 85-73 against South Carolina.

Did the run of wins, especially with so many having lopsided margins, lead the Vols to become comfortable with how they were playing - good or bad - because they were winning in the end?

Struggles with defensive rebounding? Eh. Defensive lapses leading to 3-point barrages? Meh.

It didn't matter because the Vols seemed to be able to turn on their defense when needed and they also appeared able to outscore most opponents. Then came Kentucky, and Tennessee's problems that had revealed themselves during the streak came out again - and all at once.

The Wildcats (21-4, 10-2 Southeastern Conference) dominated the Vols (23-2, 11-1) from start to finish at Rupp Arena, winning every meaningful statistical battle, and Tennessee's loss will almost assuredly knock it out of the top spot in the polls when they're released Monday.

The Vols' 69 points were their fewest in a game since they beat Georgia Tech 66-53 on Nov. 13. Their 11 assists set a new season low, and their 20 points in the paint tied their output against Gonzaga for the fewest in a game this season. Only in that game, the Vols made up for their lack of an interior presence by hitting 12 3-pointers.

Against Kentucky, they were 7-of-25 behind the arc.

"The things we talked about needing to do tonight, we just didn't do," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. "We were very poor, we were selfish offensively. I told the coaches at one point, 'I don't know who I'm looking at, what I'm looking at or where to turn.' We just didn't give ourselves a chance, but I think you have to give Kentucky credit for that."

Everything the Vols typically like to do offensively, they were unable to do Saturday. Tennessee forward Grant Williams, who still finished with 18 points, entered averaging more than 11 field-goal attempts per game this season. He had four against the Wildcats, with half of those coming from 3-point range.

"We weren't Tennessee tonight," Williams said. "We weren't the team that we are. We kind of needed this, I believe. We needed to be humbled. We've got to realize that we've got to compete. It's not going to be easy every game. I'm glad it happened, and we're going to bounce back from it."

Only three teams have scored more points against the Vols this season than the Wildcats did Saturday. Kansas needed overtime to do it, and against Memphis (92) and Arkansas (87), Tennessee held large leads in the second half and was never really challenged on the scoreboard.

The Vols' final numbers in Lexington simply were not good. They grabbed 26 rebounds, a season low. They fouled 25 times, a season high.

"Honestly, they just kicked our butts," senior guard Admiral Schofield said. "That's just what it is. We weren't as physical as them. That's part of the game. I'm excited we're losing now. I'm excited that we have a chance to get better. They came out and they played like they wanted to beat our butt, and they did. They out-physicaled us.

"All we can do is go to the drawing board, fix it and get better."

With six regular-season games remaining for the Vols, who are tied with No. 19 LSU (21-4, 11-1) for the lead in the SEC standings, they have time to improve with their title hopes intact. They will host Kentucky on March 2, and before then they'll face Vanderbilt (9-16, 0-12) on Tuesday in Knoxville, play at LSU next Saturday and visit Ole Miss on Feb. 27.

After the Kentucky rematch, Tennessee's senior night is March 5 against Mississippi State, with the regular-season finale March 9 at Auburn.

So there are plenty of chances for the Vols to clean up the mistakes they've likely been making for a while. While those mistakes may not have been exposed to most until Saturday, they will continue to be exposed unless the Vols address them.

"We're going to be good," Bone said. "There's no doubt in my mind that we're going to grow from this. It wasn't our goal coming into this season to be ranked No. 1 in January or February.

"We want something bigger. We still have a lot of basketball left, a lot of opportunities to grow as a team, and that's what we're going to do."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.

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