KNOXVILLE - The Tennessee men's basketball team really could have used a win Saturday at 13th-ranked Auburn, and the Volunteers almost got it.
Tennessee faded down the stretch in a 73-66 loss to the Tigers, who snapped a two-game skid.
The Volunteers (15-12, 7-7 Southeastern Conference) led by 17 points in the second half, but turnovers and poor execution cost them late and Auburn (23-4, 10-4) finished on a 9-2 run.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes seemed frustrated after the game when asked by reporters about the inconsistencies of his team.
"I can sit there and tell you no, we don't expect it. But I can't," he said. "Because we've talked about it too much, and I think our players are too good to keep making these mistakes. It's hard for me to see it that way. Maybe an outside person looking in. But from the inside looking out, no, because I watched Davonte Gaines play his heart out. Again, he's young. I watched him make a lot of big plays today.
"We've just got to get it from everybody. I think most teams feel like that - they have to have everyone playing. But you need your older guys doing it consistently for you. Again, you cannot turn the ball over the way we do and expect to win basketball games."
It's a quick turnaround for the Vols, who play at 8:30 p.m. EST Wednesday at Arkansas (17-10, 5-9), with SEC Network televising the game. Tennessee defeated the Razorbacks 82-61 on Feb. 11 in Knoxville.
Here are three next-day observations from Saturday's loss:
AP photo by Julie Bennett / Tennessee senior Jordan Bowden, left, guards Auburn's Devan Cambridge during the first half of Saturday's game in Auburn, Ala.1. Good game wasted: The most disappointing part of Saturday's loss for Tennessee was that it ruined guard Jordan Bowden's big performance. The lone senior on the roster scored 28 points, his most as a Vol, missing only three of his 12 shots and making three of four 3-point attempts. Santiago Vescovi, with 10 points, was the only other Tennessee player who scored in double figures. But for Bowden, it was the breakout game he had been waiting for and opponents had been fearful of having happen against them.
2. No Vescovi, big problem: The impact of the freshman has resonated through the program since his arrival at midseason. He has been known to turn the ball over too much, though, and he did that five times at Auburn. He also was limited to 18 minutes due to foul trouble. When Vescovi had to go to the bench with his fourth foul with 14:27 to play, the Vols led 54-37. By the time he returned, Tennessee trailed 57-56 - an 18-point swing.
3. Ineffective starters: You usually expect your starters to set the tone for the rest of the team. That wasn't the case against Auburn, where Vescovi, Josiah-Jordan James, Bowden, Yves Pons and John Fulkerson were a combined minus-nine on the court together. The Vols were actually better once the reserves entered because they didn't worry as much about force-feeding the ball inside and instead let the game come naturally. James had six turnovers and was rated minus-12 in 30 minutes, while Fulkerson played his worst game of the season with a minus-18 in 23 minutes.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.