Tennessee missed the first 10 three-point attempts it took Friday afternoon.
The Vols have shot more threes this season than they ever have under Rick Barnes — a byproduct of his new philosophy to take the open shots. Tennessee did just that — with only a few of those misses bad looks — but could not get shots to fall.
No. 15 Tennessee survived an upset bid from in-state rival Tennessee Tech with an 80-69 win over the Golden Eagles Friday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena. Olivier Nkamhoua was one of five Vols that finished the game in double figure scoring, as Tennessee (4-1) overcame a dreadful 26% mark from three-point range.
“I think it’s very important that we do not live and die by the three,” Nkamhoua said. “We want to play inside out, we want to get layups, we want to get easy twos. We shoot open threes because we know we can shoot. And they’re going to fall. Shots fall … everybody on the team works on it. We know our shots are going to fall, but we don’t want to live and die by threes because there’s definitely always going to be days when it just rattles out.”
Tennessee Tech (2-4) pulled within 6 points of the Vols with as little as four minutes to go. That’s when Nkamhoua took over the game. He made a jumper, then hit from deep and followed that up with a slam dunk on a pass from Santiago Vescovi. He ran the same play back just a minute later, this time a on a half-court alley-oop pass from Vescovi.
“My favorite one was the one where Santi trusted me and threw it from half court,” Nkamhoua said. “I was like, ‘Okay, if you’re going to throw it, I’m going to dunk it,’ because that’s trust. The dunks are fun. Dunking the ball is great.”
Nkamhoua was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, finishing with a team-high 18 points and 4 rebounds. Despite Tennessee scoring over half its points inside the paint, Barnes believes the Vols can make a better effort to feed the big men down low.
“Our guards are going to have to realize that our posts guys can play a little bit,” Barnes said. “In the flow of the game, they’re going to have to learn how to get them involved as opposed to continue to go down the lane and get shots blocked.”
Tennessee Tech actually led by a point at halftime. The Golden Eagles rode 60% three-point shooting in the first half — compared to Tennessee’s abysmal 2-for-15 mark in the first 20 minutes — to a slim 35-34 lead, capped by Jr. Clay’s three-point buzzer beater that put them ahead. All in all, Tech led the Vols for over seven minutes.
The Vols flipped the switch in the second half, and three of their talented freshmen played a key role in fending off Tech. Kennedy Chandler and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield both finished in double figures, with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Huntley-Hatfield shot 6-of-7 from the field, a notable improvement from his 3-of-7 shooting day against North Carolina.
“I’m really just trying to take my time and stay poised. Trust my shots,” Huntley-Hatfield said. “Really just trying to take my time, get to my kill spots.”
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (2) looks to go to the rim, defended by Tennessee Tech's Shandon Goldman (33) at Thompson Boling Arena on Nov. 26, 2021.
“He works, he wants to be good at it. And like anybody that should still be in high school, how far he’s come has been tremendous,” Barnes said of Huntley-Hatfield.
Zakai Zeigler played 26 minutes and shot 16% on the day with 4 points but totaled 4 boards and 4 assists to lead the Vols with a plus — minus of 13.
More good things are in store for the Vols as those freshmen learn how to practice and approach teams. Barnes thought that several of the younger players did not have a good practice yesterday, and they didn’t give a solid Tech team the credit it deserved.
If the Vols can pair positive practice habits with the talented Nkamhoua, the veteran experience of John Fulkerson — 14 points and 6 rebounds — or even Vescovi, who Barnes called “one of the most underrated guards in the country,” they could fully realize their potential.
“Habits win out,” Nkamhoua said. “So bad practice equals bad habits. Habits win out, so you might not do so well in the game. It’s very hard to turn it on and off by stepping on the court.”
“However you prepare is how you should expect to play … We just got to keep our focus and preparation up to the same intensity as our practice and effort.”
Santiago Vescovi (25) brings the ball down the court against Tennessee Tech at Thompson Boling Arena on Nov. 26, 2021.
