Dishing out 22 assists while committing only seven turnovers is definitely a recipe for a highly successful Tennessee men's basketball season.
Yet that particular stat line from Saturday's 76-36 smothering of UNC Greensboro won't be as easy to replicate against Alabama, Auburn and the other expected big boys of this season's Southeastern Conference race. For the time being, however, protecting the ball is an early season trend paying dividends for the Volunteers.
"I think it's really important to keep that up, especially as we get into the meat of our schedule," Vols junior guard/forward Josiah-Jordan James said. "We've got some tough games coming up. On offense, we want to get a shot every time, and if we don't, we'll be disappointed.
"In the game of basketball, if you take more shots than the other team, you'll probably make more shots than the other team, and you'll probably win the game."
Tennessee slipped in Monday afternoon's Associated Press poll as a result of last Tuesday's 57-52 overtime loss to Texas Tech in New York City, falling from 13th to 18th. The Vols are 10th in the NET rankings that are used by the NCAA tournament selection committee.
The Vols have racked up 164 assists through their 7-2 start and have committed 97 turnovers for a plus-1.69 margin per game that ranked seventh nationally entering Monday night's slate of contests. They are averaging 18.2 assists and 10.8 turnovers a contest, with that 10.8 down from last season's average of 12.5.
"Your offense can help your defense so much if you're efficient on the offensive end," seventh-year coach Rick Barnes said. "There have been games when we're very efficient, and there have been games when we're too impatient at times. To be the team that we want to be, we've got to be good in a lot of areas, and taking care of the ball is a big part of it."
Said freshman point guard Zakai Zeigler: "One of our top goals, whether that's through practice or watching film, is taking care of the ball. When you get more possessions, most of the time you're going to win the game."
Tennessee's 18.2 assists per game is ahead of last season's 15.7 clip.
The Vols never had a true point guard last season. Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer were dazzling freshman talents who became NBA first-round draft picks, but they combined to produce 140 assists against 131 turnovers.
Zeigler and Kennedy Chandler are pure point guards who have combined for 66 assists and 33 turnovers, while junior guard Santiago Vescovi has 30 assists so far and 11 turnovers. Again, it's a promising trend that must be tempered, as Tennessee's game Tuesday night against visiting USC Upstate will be followed the rest of the month with more familiar names - specifically Memphis, Arizona and Alabama - in the sport.
"What Kennedy and Zakai are both bringing this year is something different," Vescovi said. "They are super smart, and they take care of the ball. For the older guys like myself and Josiah, I think we have grown up and learned from our mistakes, and that was something we struggled with last year. I think we learned from that.
"We want to take a shot every time we come down the floor."
A family affair
Although USC Upstate has struggled to a 2-7 start, freshman guard Jordan Gainey has made an instant impact with 10.1 points per game and a stellar 48.6% success rate (17-of-35) from the 3-point line. Gainey is the son of Tennessee first-year assistant and former N.C. State point guard Justin Gainey.
"I've never coached against him," Gainey said Monday. "Man, my emotions are all over the place. I don't know what to expect, and I don't know what it will feel like.
"I know he's a lot more calm about it than I am, I'll tell you that."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.