Tennessee head coach Cuonzo Martin calls a play.TENNESSEE’S SCORECARDTennessee’s basketball Vols are making the turn toward the second half of their 18-game SEC schedule against lowly South Carolina today, and the front nine of the Vols’ league schedule was full of ups and downs.Here’s a golf-style scorecard to recap how the first half of SEC play went for Tennessee.Hole No. 1: at LSU (W, 68-50)Score: BirdieThe Vols opened SEC play with a solid road win in the same building where Kentucky and Missouri later lost.Hole No. 2: vs. Texas A&M (L, 57-56)Score: Triple bogeyThis easily is the Vols’ worst loss of the season, at home to a team that lost to North Texas by 20 and to South Carolina by 28, and one that ultimately could knock them out of the NCAA tournament.Hole No. 3: vs. Auburn (W, 78-67)Score: ParA ho-hum home win against a team that began SEC play 0-6.Hole No. 4: at Kentucky (L, 74-66)Score: ParNot many teams are going to win in Rupp Arena — the Wildcats have lost twice at home under fifth-year coach John Calipari — and the Vols played fairly well.Hole No. 5: vs. Arkansas (W, 81-74)Score: ParTennessee took care of business against a poor road team that’s 3-6 in the SEC.Hole No. 6: at Florida (L, 67-41)Score: Double bogeyProbably the toughest hole on the course, but Tennessee shanked its tee shot into the woods and found water with its approach in what probably was the ugliest performance under third-year coach Cuonzo Martin.Hole No. 7: vs. Ole Miss (W, 86-70)Score: BirdieThe Vols impressively bounced back from the Florida disaster with a wire-to-wire win against a team that had beaten them three straight times in the past two seasons.Hole No. 8: at Alabama (W, 76-59)Score: BirdieThough this hole is playing easier this season, it’s still one that has torched Tennessee in the past, but that was hardly the case this time.Hole No. 9: at Vanderbilt (L, 64-60)Score: BogeyA tricky hole got the best of the Vols, who found the rough off the tee before a disappointing three-putt.
KNOXVILLE — For every step or two forward, there’s a trip, a stumble, a slide.
An up-and-down season for Tennessee men’s basketball has carried into Southeastern Conference play, and the Volunteers enter the second half of the conference schedule — and the homestretch to the postseason and Selection Sunday — with a 5-4 record in a bland league.
A season that began with high hopes has turned into a disappointment, and now Tennessee enters a nine-game stretch to the SEC tournament in Atlanta that assuredly will have a big impact on the short- and long-term future of the program.
And while Cuonzo Martin rarely exudes frustration, the Vols’ third-year coach did acknowledge that the inconsistencies that have plagued his veteran team have been maddening.