Sports Editor
Buzz Peterson wanted to send a message to his team Sunday.
The Tennessee men’s basketball coach was tired of the Vols’ defensive showings on the road – the latest an 85-64 loss at South Carolina Saturday.
So after losing his second-consecutive road game by more than 20 points, Peterson found a new way to pick the Vols’ starting lineup.
“The five guys that give the defensive effort, those are the five guys who are going to have the privilege of running through the T,” he said. “I’m not going to guarantee they’ll be the five guys that finish the game, but you’re going to have the privilege of running through the T and having your name called out.”
Peterson said he would pick the new starters for tonight’s match-up at 8 against No. 9 Kentucky after watching film from Monday’s practice.
The team has responded well, according to Vol point guard C.J. Watson.
“Everybody just wanted to come out and play hard,” the Las Vegas native said. “(The coaches) wanted to start our fire to play more physical and play better defense.”
While the Vols’ opponents have shot 57.4 percent from the field in UT’s three road losses, the Volunteers have been much more stingy in Knoxville. At home, Tennessee is only allowing opponents 37.9 percent shooting.
Perfect with the Wildcats coming to town, Peterson said.
“As long as (UK coach Tubby Smith) is there, they’re still going to have the defense they need to win a lot of games,” the third-year coach said. “We’ll have to match that challenge to have a chance against them. So far we’ve been able to do that at home.”
The Vols are undefeated at home this season, but have lost their last three against the ‘Cats.
Peterson said the key to beating this year’s Kentucky team is attacking its depth.
“You’ve got to try to get them to play as many players as possible,” he said. “I love getting to the free-throw line. Post feeds, dribble drives – I love all that stuff.
“We love to do that and we’ll try to do that against Kentucky.”
Not an easy task considering the Wildcats’ last game, a 65-57 home loss to Georgia.
“Here comes a team that’s probably fired up and upset the way they played the last game,” Peterson said. “We’ve got to be ready to meet that challenge on our home floor.”
