Free throws are proving to be quite costly for this season’s Tennessee Volunteers.
The No. 19 Vols made just 12 of their 23 attempts at the foul line during Saturday afternoon’s 86-75 loss at No. 18 Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. They arrived in Fayetteville ranked 238th nationally in free-throw shooting at 69.9% but are now at a 68.6% clip, which is the worst average in their 11 seasons under Rick Barnes.
“I told the team after the game that if we’re going to be like that, we’re going to struggle all year,” Barnes said Saturday in a news conference. “We had a chance to make them to get back in the game and couldn’t make them. We had a chance to stretch a lead out and couldn’t make them. I don’t think we have a guy on our team who doesn’t think he can make them, but they’re going to have to make them when the lights are on.
“It just puts so much more pressure on everything you do. It puts more pressure on your defense. It puts pressure on every other part of the game.”
Tennessee fell to 10-4 overall and will look to bounce back Tuesday night inside the Food City Center against Texas, which dropped to 9-5 and 0-1 in SEC play with Saturday night’s 101-98 overtime loss to visiting Mississippi State. ESPN2 will televise the Tennessee-Texas game at 9.