Times are tough for Tennessee basketball.
As the holidays near, the flump is apparent. The No. 20 Vols (7-3) are in the midst of a three-game skid, and learned on Dec. 9 that the longest-tenured player, Cade Phillips, would be lost for the season due to shoulder surgery.
Insert No. 11 Louisville (9-1), fresh off a 26-point strike over Western foe Memphis, and freshman forward DeWayne Brown II. Tennessee faces Louisville on Tuesday, and that will mark Brown’s first career start, head coach Rick Barnes announced Dec. 15.
“He’s earned it,” Barnes said. “Just that’s it. He simply, with his consistency, he earned it.”
The 6-foot-8, 251-pound Hoover, Ala., native has been taking strides since he arrived in the summer. With multiple bigs battling injury throughout workouts, Brown earned his chances to shine early.
That has catapulted him to a starting role — with help to another frontcourt injury — which Barnes continues to credit to his work ethic. Brown is 5.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in 13.3 minutes of action per night.
He did not cut out a role in games against Houston and Kansas, but his impact since has been ever-needed. Brown responded to the missed action by posting a sparking 4-point, 5-rebound, 3-assist performance against Syracuse in a season-high 22 minutes. He carved out nine minutes against Illinois, scoring five points on 2-for-2 shooting and hauling in two offensive boards.
“We’re going to base everything we do based on everyday practice habits and consistency because that’s what we haven’t had,” Barnes said. “Everybody has shown glimpses of this or that. We want to see consistency and, those are the guys. But I look at our front line, to be honest with you, whether it’s J.P. (Estrella) or Jaylen (Carey) or Fe(lix Okpara), those guys are all starters to me. But the fact is, the guy that’s going start is going to be the most consistent guys.”
Consistency is one of many things Tennessee has been lacking in its blundering efforts to Kansas, Syracuse and Illinois the last three times on the hardwood.
In a 13-point loss to Illinois in Nashville, the Vols received minimal contributions outside of inconsistent Nate Ament and Ja’Kobi Gillepsie. But with the two shooting 25% and 31% from the field over the last four games, there’s no room left to work in the same flow.
Barnes claims mental lapses, aside from physical. It takes a physical team to beat Houston. It takes a mentality to overcome three consecutive losses afterward. That’s where nine days off provides the chance to reset.
“I thought their attitudes were really good in terms we just broke down everything where we felt like we had to make the biggest jumps,” Barnes said. “Which obviously taking care of the ball is a big part of it. Defensively, our ball-screen coverage, trying to keep continue to clean that up with so many people doing that. But just overall as a group, trying to get guys to understand the roles, the details, just any and everything you could imagine.”
Tennessee will need to see the fruits of its labor when it comes to facing another ranked battle with Louisville at Food City Center. The Vols and Cardinals tip off at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
