The time is 'right now' for Tennessee's inside freshmen to emerge

Tennessee Athletics photo / Freshman forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield has played in all 22 games this season for No. 19 Tennessee and has averaged 10.6 minutes per contest, but he could be needed a whole lot more now that junior forward Olivier Nkamhoua is likely out for the season.
Tennessee Athletics photo / Freshman forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield has played in all 22 games this season for No. 19 Tennessee and has averaged 10.6 minutes per contest, but he could be needed a whole lot more now that junior forward Olivier Nkamhoua is likely out for the season.

Tennessee's youth movement has been effective all season on the perimeter with Kennedy Chandler and Zakai Zeigler.

Now, it's needed in the interior.

Following last Saturday's loss of junior forward Olivier Nkamhoua to an ankle injury that required surgery, the No. 19 Volunteers may not have that much of a choice. Tennessee will play its first game without Nkamhoua, a 22-game starter, Wednesday night at Mississippi State (9 on ESPN2).

"Between Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Jonas Aidoo and Jahmai Mashack, we'll decide who will give us the best chance to win basketball games," coach Rick Barnes said this week in a news conference, "And it will come down to who is the better defensive player. All three of them are freshmen, and we think they all can score, but we need consistency on the defensive end, and whoever shows us that will get those minutes.

"That is going to get guys on the court this time of year."

The 6-foot-8, 232-pound Nkamhoua was averaging 8.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, with his 124 rebounds and 25 blocked shots leading the team. Nkamhoua also led the Vols in 3-point accuracy, making 13 of 29 shots for a 44.8% clip, and served as Tennessee's most athletic inside presence.

"He's one of our best defenders," Chandler said. "He's a shot-blocker, and we are going to miss him doing that. We just need somebody else to be able to fill in and take his spot and be able to do the same thing he did by bringing the same energy and the same competitiveness.

"We are going to need some people who need to step up."

Barnes has the option of starting both 7-foot, 251-pound redshirt junior Uros Plavsic and 6-9, 219-pound sixth-year senior John Fulkerson inside, or he could shift 6-6, 214-pound junior wing Josiah-Jordan James to small forward and go with the smaller lineup of Chandler, Zeigler, junior guard Santiago Vescovi, James and either Fulkerson or Plavsic.

The 6-10, 246-pound Huntley-Hatfield has played in every game for the Vols, who are 16-6 overall and 7-3 in Southeastern Conference play with five consecutive league triumphs. The five-star signee reclassified from 2022 into the 2021 class and is averaging 10.6 minutes, 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds.

Mashack is 6-4 and more like a younger version of the versatile James, having averaged 5.2 minutes, 0.7 points and 0.9 rebounds in 19 games, while the 6-11, 234-pound Aidoo has averaged just 2.4 minutes, 0.7 points and 0.2 rebounds in six contests.

"Between Uros, John, Jonas and Brandon, those guys all have a chance to get more minutes," Barnes said. "I do think Uros is in a good spot, and I think John is, too. John has been doing some good things, but we're going to need some help out of those other guys. Jonas is the best rim protector on our team, and I see that every day in practice. I think he is grasping what it takes to play at this level night in and night out.

"He and Brandon are here because we think they have a great future ahead of them, but they need to expedite it right now. If they don't take advantage of it, it's on them, because the time is right now."

Odds and ends

- Tennessee holds a commanding 86-44 series advantage against Mississippi State, but the Vols are just 30-29 against the Bulldogs in Starkville.

- The Bulldogs are 14-8 overall and 5-4 in SEC play, which includes a 5-0 league mark at home.

- Mississippi State junior guard Iverson Molinar is averaging 20.6 points in SEC games.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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