After being up by as much as 21 points, Tennessee’s lead over Lenoir-Rhyne was dwindling.
The Volunteers were in the midst of a stretch in which they were outscored by the Bears 13-5 between the 11:58 and 6:46 marks in the second half and looked to be in danger of letting their Division-II opponent from Hickory, North Carolina, stick around until the final buzzer.
Then, the UT press kicked it into overdrive as the Vols collected steals on three consecutive Lenoir-Rhyne possessions – scoring on each – to push their lead back up to 19.
From there, the Vols would cruise, never allowing their lead to fall below that number en route to a 77-49 victory over the Bears inside Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday.
“It gave us a huge boost,” said senior guard Josh Richardson, who recorded two of the three steals during that 37-second stretch. “Not only did it feed our offense, but it gave us a momentum boost. I think it did a good job for us turning the tides a little bit.”
After Monday’s performance against Pikeville, where Tennessee only managed to record three steals, the emphasis all week in practice had been to force more turnovers.
The work paid off, as the Vols were able to to turn defense into offense, scoring 31 points off 22 Lenoir-Rhyne turnovers.
“If we don’t get those points off of turnovers, the game is probably a little bit closer,” junior guard Kevin Punter said. “If we are not hitting on offense, then hopefully we are making it up somewhere else, and we made it up in our press.”
Junior Derek Reese, who made his second consecutive start, paced the Vols with 14 points, tying Lenoir-Rhyne’s Will Perry and Richardson for the game-high.
Reese’s abilities as an all-around player have helped him find a bigger role in UT’s lineup, forcing Armani Moore out of the four spot. In total, the 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward added four rebounds, two assists and two steals, as well as going 2-for-3 from 3-point range.
“I think Derek can really stretch the floor,” head coach Donnie Tyndall said. “He is a very skilled four man, so he helps you run offense and makes it a little bit easier. With our lack of a natural point guard, you have to be able to run some offense through your bigs.”
Saturday’s matchup against Lenoir-Rhyne marked the Tennessee debut of redshirt senior guard Ian Chiles, who has been battling myriad injuries since arriving in Knoxville over the summer.
Chiles played eight minutes in the contest, recording an assist, a rebound and a steal.
“With the way our rotation is, if Ian could come in and play two to four minutes a half and be solid and be steady, it would help us because he is a guy who can handle the ball a little bit,” Tyndall said. “I’ve had guys who early in the year didn’t start and played one minute, and by the end of the year, they were starters playing 26 minutes – and vice versa.
“He’s a guy that is going to get a chance to continue to improve.”
While Chiles was able to return to the court, junior guard Devon Baulkman was forced to miss Saturday’s contest thanks to a nagging left shoulder injury.
The injury may just cost Baulkman more than an exhibition game, though, as Tyndall said that he was unsure whether he would be able to go this week leading up to UT’s season opener against No. 15 Virginia Commonwealth University.
With the exhibition portion of the schedule finished, this new Vols squad with eight newcomers now shifts its focus to that Veterans Classic matchup in Annapolis, Maryland, on Friday.
And for Richardson, the statement to his team is clear.
“We better be ready to play a real game,” Richardson said. “There’s no running from it.”
