KNOXVILLE – The recent shooting woes are not a concern for fifth-ranked Tennessee.
Yet.
The Volunteers suffered through their second consecutive poor shooting performance in a lackluster 58-46 win over Vanderbilt on Tuesday. They relied heavily on their defense, which among other things spurred an 11-2 second-half run that helped them assume control of the contest.
Granted, the Vols were going against a Vanderbilt offense that was statistically the worst in the Southeastern Conference, one that has topped 70 points only three times during a 14-game losing streak and not at all since scoring 83 against the Vols in overtime on Jan. 23 in Nashville. So while the Tennessee defense was improved – which was important – it’s also important to note the context of the opponent.
Still, Tuesday’s game was a throwback to last season, when the Vols counted on their defense to get stops while being opportunistic on the other end of the floor. Vanderbilt shot only 32 percent from the field, only 23 percent in the second half.
And regardless of the opponent, it was a step in the right direction because the effort was there.
“Defensively, that’s where we want to be anyway,” junior guard Lamonte Turner said. “We want to be a defensive-minded team, so whenever we can hold the other team to 30 or something percent from the field we call it a good night. We know shots are going to fall. They’ve been falling all year, so we don’t try to focus on that.”
The offensive end of the court, where the Vols (24-2, 11-2) have thrived all season, has become the problem. After scoring at least 70 points in 21 consecutive games, they’ve failed to do it in consecutive contests, following up their 69 in a 17-point loss to Kentucky on Saturday with their lowest total of the season. They shot only 41 percent from the field, a slight improvement from the 40.3 percent they shot against the Wildcats.
The Vols made fewer than 25 field goals for the second straight game and only the third time this season, with the Nov. 13 win over Georgia Tech being the other.
“You can’t coach making shots (during a game),” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said Tuesday night. “All you can do is encourage the guys to do what they practice and believe in. You have to believe in their work ethic, and the fact that they just have to keep shooting. You can’t make the next one if you don’t shoot it. As long as they shoot it and stay in the rhythm of our offense, we’ll be fine.”
Tuesday was the second time all season that the Vols averaged less than one point per possession, with Georgia Tech being the other. Saturday night, they averaged exactly one point per possession, the team’s third-worst performance this season.
But like the Georgia Tech game, Tuesday’s resulted in a win, just not in an accustomed style for a team that leads the SEC in field-goal accuracy at 50.7 percent. Will the shots eventually fall? Coming off an offseason in which each individual player improved offensively, the players believe so.
“Honestly, we just aren’t worried about that stuff,” Tennessee forward Grant Williams said Tuesday night. “You go into slumps, and sometimes you aren’t making shots. As hard as we work and as confident as we are, we know guys will make shots. For us, we just aren’t worried about that stuff. We know shots will fall.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.