KNOXVILLE – Despite the outcome and how it transpired, there were positives for Tennessee men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes to take from the Volunteers’ come-from-ahead loss to Texas A&M on Saturday.
Two of the bright spots were freshmen Shembari Phillips and Admiral Schofield.
The duo combined for 31 points, with Phillips scoring a career-high 15 and Schofield netting 16 to keep his average at 18.3 points in three Southeastern Conference games.
“I thought Shembari played his best game of the year,” Barnes said after the Volunteers lost 92-88 to the 21st-ranked Aggies at Thompson-Boling Arena. “He was terrific. He’s a great cutter. In the first half he was cutting, and he did a great job.
“Admiral continues to improve, and I thought Kyle (Alexander) was really good today. Looking back at it, I’m thinking he could have played some more, because he really went in and did exactly what we ask him to do.
“The freshmen really did a great (job). They did. Without question I thought it was Shembari’s best effort.”
A 6-foot-2 guard out of the Atlanta area, Phillips matched his previous career high of eight points (set at Butler last month) in the first half and hit 3 of 6 shots while making all but one of his 10 free throws.
His 18 minutes matched the most he has played this season, and he had made just two field goals in the five games before Saturday’s contest.
“They were a lot bigger, so we said when we were on the wing, and definitely when they were in zone, just try to drive the ball and draw fouls,” Phillips said of the Vols’ plan against Texas A&M. “That’s what I continued to do.
“I just thought I was a little bit more confident tonight. I did what (Barnes) told me to do. In the past I was a little not confident, I guess, so today I took that confidence and just tried to do the best I could.”
Schofield combined for 39 points and 16 rebounds against Auburn and Florida, and he had 16 and six against Texas A&M.
Those numbers could have been bigger had he not been limited to nine minutes in the second half due to foul trouble. He picked up his third foul at the 14:29 mark with Tennessee leading 61-50, and his fourth came at 6:46, just nine seconds after he returned to the game with the Vols up 80-72.
Schofield starred in the first half, when he scored 13 points, made all five of his shot attempts and hit three 3-pointers.
“I’m playing with a lot more confidence,” he said. “I’m going to continue to work, continue to stay in the gym and work my craft and be on my craft and try to be better. I think tonight I had more of a better defensive game. I think I came out and gave my team energy early, but I’ve got to learn myself to sustain it and keep rebounding and stay out of foul trouble.”
Schofield and Phillips scored 21 points in the first half, which helped Tennessee reach 46 points despite getting just two points from leading scorer Kevin Punter Jr. The senior wound up with 19 points for the game thanks to a perfect 8-of-8 mark on free throws, and five other players reached double figures, something Tennessee’s supporting cast – the freshmen included – will have to continue.
“Every game, they’re going to game plan (to stop Punter),” Barnes said. “We told him early in the game that he’s going to have to figure out what other teams are doing and how they’re playing him. He’s going to have to continue to learn to make those adjustments. When you’re one of the leading scorers in the league, you have a big old bull’s-eye on your back.
“I’ve got so much respect for Texas A&M and their staff, and their game plan was what I think people are going to do. They’re going to make Kevin Punter play every possession (on defense), and they’re not going to let him have anything easy.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.