KNOXVILLE - Lamonte Turner had a vision for what his final home game as a college basketball player would be like.
"A guy like me, I'm like, 'I'm going to score 50,'" the Tennessee fifth-year senior said with a laugh Saturday afternoon, some 2 1/2 months after his season ended due to surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome.
Against Auburn on Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena, the Volunteers might have needed such a performance. They definitely needed him.
Maybe not even for the 50 points, although it certainly would have helped, but for his on-ball defense on the perimeter. That might be what Tennessee has missed the most about the 6-foot-2, 187-pound guard, and the 85-63 loss to the 17th-ranked Tigers in the regular-season finale for both teams was a prime example.
Auburn (25-6, 12-6 Southeastern Conference) made 14 3-pointers, which sounds like the Vols (17-14, 9-9) just forgot to guard at the arc. But it was penetration into gaps that created those open looks for the Tigers, who shot 50% from the field and had 32 attempts from long range as they completed a sweep of the regular-season series.
Maybe Turner could have made things tougher on point guard J'Von McCormick, who helped the Tigers get into a number of those gaps for either baskets in the paint or kickouts to Samir Doughty, who was seemingly left in the corner for wide-open 3s all game. Doughty scored 32 points and shot 10-for-17 from the field, including 8-for-13 from 3-point range.
Maybe Turner could have taken some pressure off the Vols' freshman guards on both ends of the court. Santiago Vescovi scored 13 points, but the Vols were outscored by 14 during his 35 minutes on the court as he struggled on defense. Josiah-Jordan James failed to follow up his breakout performances in back-to-back wins against Florida and Kentucky - when he averaged 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists - as he finished with three points, four turnovers and one assist in 24 minutes during which the Vols were outscored by 21.
AP photo by Wade Payne / Tennessee senior guard Lemonte Turner holds up his framed jersey during a ceremony before Saturday's regular-season finale against Auburn at Thompson-Boling Arena.Instead, Turner was a spectator, with his final game playing for the Vols remaining a 75-53 home win against Jacksonville on Dec. 21, when he had 11 assists and eight points in 32 minutes.
Before the tipoff against Auburn, he warmed up with the team one last time at home. He was honored along with Jordan Bowden for senior day. He stood on the bench and cheered.
And for one last time after his abrupt departure, he was cheered by Tennessee fans, with Saturday's attendance listed at 21,156.
"It just showed me that they care for me as a person, you know?" Turner said. "Because at the end of the day, I'm a person. I'm a basketball player for like three, four hours a day on the court, but the rest of them I'm off the court, so it just kind of showed me that we have genuine fans and people that actually care about us as people, not just basketball, because this was kind of bigger than basketball ... my health comes first.
"So for everyone to support me on that, it just meant a lot to me to warm up with the team. I felt like a freshman again."
SATURDAY'S STAR
Doughty dominated on both ends. When left open, he made shots. When guarded, he made passes, helping facilitate Auburn's offense and finishing with two assists. He chipped in on defense by harassing Tennessee's guards and making three steals.
STANDOUT STAT
Auburn's 14 3-pointers are the most given up by Tennessee in a game this season. Aside from Doughty's eight, McCormick had three and Tyrell Jones, Isaac Okoro and Danjel Purifoy each had one.
TURNING POINT
John Fulkerson's follow-up slam capped a 16-4 Tennessee run and cut Auburn's lead to five with 11:15 to play, but ball movement led to a wide-open 3 by Doughty and started a 14-4 spurt by the Tigers to put the game out of reach.
WHAT IT MEANS
Despite all the twists and turns of the season, the Vols had an opportunity to make a case for an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament had they been able to beat the Tigers, who were coming off back-to-back losses to Kentucky and Texas A&M. But Tennessee's inconsistency reared its ugly head at an inopportune time, and now the Vols are staring at a National Invitation Tournament berth unless they win multiple games at the SEC tournament, which starts Wednesday in Nashville. The Vols are seeded eighth and won't play until Thursday's second round, but they might need to win the tourney and its accompanying automatic bid to make the 68-team NCAA field.
QUOTABLE
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl: "That's about as good as we can play. Offensively, I felt like we controlled the game with the things that we did. We got open looks and the kids knocked them down. Samir Doughty showed why he should be a first-team all-conference player. A lot of the pieces came together. I want Tennessee to win three or four more and get to the tournament. I knew this one here, on the heels of Florida and Kentucky - get Auburn, win a game or two in the SEC tournament and they are in. I admire Rick Barnes so much. He's one of the best coaches in the country, and the job he's done with these kids, the improvement of Fulkerson, Bowden. We talked about it last time: They don't have that true point guard. J'von McCormick for us, his quickness and his speed was a problem for Tennessee today."
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes: "It's a new season for everybody. We've seen things happen. All we have left is that postseason. That's our only chance. Are we capable of beating anybody in the league? We are, but it's going to take a team effort. We're going to have to get more guys in the game, because I feel like I'm letting some guys play longer than they should. Honestly, they probably don't deserve to. Some of those guys deserve more, and that's on me. I feel that I should have gotten some of those guys in there, because when guys aren't playing well, those guys deserve a chance."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.