The last time the Tennessee men’s basketball team left the floor during a meaningful game, they had just suffered an excruciating season-ending defeat at the hands of a Cinderella fairy tale.
Kicking off the 2018-19 regular season against Lenoir-Rhyne on Tuesday, the aura would be quite different for these Vols.
Jordan Bone scored 18 points, Kyle Alexander added 16 and the combination of Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield tallied 13 each as Tennessee overwhelmed the Bears 86-41 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Jordan Bowden also added 11 for the Vols as all five starters finished in double figures. The win marks Tennessee’s 29th overall victory in home openers, and it is 16 out of 17 for head coach Rick Barnes in his career.
“Our rotational guys were really, really good,” Barnes said. “We knew we were going to be short-handed going in…it wasn’t as pretty as we wanted it to be, but there were positives.”
Coming out of the gates with the fire and intensity of a true national championship contender, the Vols raced to a quick lead, preventing the Bears from building any offensive rhythm.
Forcing 10 first half turnovers while recording seven blocks, Tennessee was a well-oiled machine on both ends of the floor as they ended the half shooting 60 percent from the floor, despite only hitting 3-of-9 attempts from beyond the arc.
“It comes from the way that they push me and the confidence they have in me,” Bone said. “I’m supposed to have command of the team as a point guard and that’s a credit to the coaches for having confidence in me.”
Notorious for holding opposing teams to low shooting percentages, that trend manifested itself again as the Vols held Lenoir-Rhyne to just 21 percent from the floor.
Whether it be on the offensive or the defensive side of the ball, the story of the night for Tennessee was the play of their senior big-man.
After going down with an injury in last year’s NCAA Tournament, Alexander made his presence felt on both ends of the floor, terrorizing the Bears guards and using his length to make contested shots.
The Ontario, Canada native averaged 1.7 blocks a season ago, and if Tuesday was any indication, he’ll easily surpass that average this year.
Alexander blocked three shots in the opening 20 minutes, and despite sitting the bench for much of the second half, continued to make it a long night in the paint for the opposition.
A relatively stoic personality on the court a year ago, the senior forward is looking to make the most out of what could be the final campaign of his basketball career.
“This could be my last year of basketball so I told myself I just want to have some fun,” Alexander said. “I’m just going out there and letting it all out.”
While Bone shouldered the lead on offense for a vast majority of the evening, it was Alexander’s energy down low that allowed Tennessee to hold Lenoir-Rhyne to just nine second half points.
Not only did the Vols hold the opposition minimal points, they allowed them to shoot just 13 percent from the floor during that span, as Lenoir-Rhyne failed to convert a basket until the 11:15 mark of the second half.
For Barnes, however, it was more about the development of his players within the system, rather than gaudy defensive numbers, which is a trend the veteran coach has adapted to quite well.
“We haven’t played a second half in any of our scrimmages or exhibitions,” Barnes said. “We flipped our rebounding in the second half and were better there…we just want to help these guys become the players we know they can be.”
