KNOXVILLE - Tennessee struggled to contain Texas A&M on the boards Tuesday night in a 63-58 loss at Thompson-Boling Arena, dropping the Volunteers to 12-8 overall and 4-3 in the Southeastern Conference.
The Vols' next two games are on the road, starting with Saturday's 2 p.m. EST matchup at Mississippi State (13-7, 4-3), which will be televised by ESPNU.
Here are three observations from the Vols' loss to the Aggies (10-9, 4-3):
1. Initial defense was good: What might get lost in Tuesday's result is that Tennessee defended really well. Texas A&M shot just 30% from the field and had 14 turnovers to just seven assists, with the Vols blocking 10 shots. The Aggies' two best scoring options this season - guard Savion Flagg and forward Josh Nebo - combined for 11 points, with Flagg missing 11 of his 13 shots. So who hurt the Vols? Role players such as starters Wendell Mitchell (23 points) and Andre Gordon (nine) as well as reserve Quenton Jackson (11). Even then, those three were 12-for-36 from the floor. That didn't hurt as much as ...
Texas A&M forward Emanuel Miller had 12 rebounds, including four offensive boards, to help the Aggies dominate in that category during their 63-58 win Tuesday night at Tennessee. / AP file photo by Mark Humphrey2. Uh, rebounding: It can't be discounted that size plays a major role in rebounding, but a lot of Texas A&M's offensive rebounds - the Aggies had 23 of them - were more about effort than size. The Aggies played with a level of aggressiveness and physicality the Vols didn't seem to want much to do with as the game went along. Case in point: The Aggies missed 19 shots in the second half; they grabbed offensive rebounds on 13 of those misses. Coaches will say rebounding is about "want to," and from what it looks like, Tennessee really didn't want to get inside and battle with the Aggies, aside from John Fulkerson, a 6-foot-9, 212-pound redshirt junior who had seven rebounds.
Tennessee men's basketball coach Rick Barnes will try to have the Vols rebound, literally and figuratively, when they visit Mississippi State on Saturday. / AP file photo by Mark Humphrey3. Whew, this roster: There's no way to get around the fact the problems that befell this roster started long before the season began and are rearing their ugly heads right now. The lack of post depth is glaring: Fulkerson and Yves Pons are really the team's lone options on the interior because freshman Uros Plavsic has struggled to figure things out on the defensive end. Olivier Nkamhoua has struggled to figure things out on the offensive end, and freshman Drew Pember is not yet ready physically. It was telling that, despite the rebounding discrepancy Tuesday, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes stuck with Fulkerson and Pons in the second half, not playing the 7-foot-1 Plavsic and only giving Nkamhoua - the team's best rebounder - 4 minutes and 17 seconds of court time. There really isn't much leeway with the roster this season, meaning there's only so many ways the Vols can play - but they can't look like they did Tuesday night again.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.