Hot Topic- If anyone doubted Tennessee’s effort in its 73-65 loss to Vanderbilt, they need only glance at Tennessee’s final game stats to be persuaded otherwise.
The Tennessee final stat sheet read 19 offensive rebounds, 24 second-chance points and 13 steals.
These stats lead to the question: how did Tennessee lose? It is uncommon for a team to dominate the offensive glass, out-rebounde its opponent to a tune of 37-19 and score 24 more second-chance points than its opponent and still lose.
It is also uncommon to allow an opponent to hit its final 13 field goals and go 9-of-11 from the perimeter in the second half.
The Vols’ effort gave them a 30-19 halftime lead; the Commodores’ second half 3-point shooting gave them the win.
“I thought our effort was good,” Tyndall said. “We had two great days of practice prior to this game. I thought our team competed, we just didn’t guard the right way the second half, and give Vanderbilt credit.”
Tennessee has now lost four straight games, and the opportunity to participate in any postseason tournament looks bleaker with each loss.
Yet both Tyndall and his players admitted they can’t feel sorry for themselves as it’s the Vols’ effort that give them the chance to win games.
“Coach tells us every time after every game, ‘You got to pick yourself up and keep going,’” Derek Reese said. “Things are never going to go perfect in anything you do, you are going to go through adversity. The ones who keep fighting are the ones who become successful. The ones who give up are not going to be successful. So we just got to keep fighting.”
As the Game Turned– After witnessing a stunning display of perimeter shooting from Vanderbilt, the Vols found themselves trailing 59-50 with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
Armani Moore, however, was determined to overcome the Commodores’ hot 3-point shooting on his own.
After scoring a layup to cut Vanderbilt’s lead to seven, Moore looked to trim the lead even more.
Moore drove the ball in lane against Luke Kornet. Absorbing contact from Kornet, he placed the ball of the backboard and scored.
A whistle blew. The crowd cheered. For a moment, everyone in attendance believed Moore was heading to the line to complete a 3-point play.
They were wrong.
The official signaled a charge against Moore. Kornet could only smile and shrug.
The partisan Tennessee crowd at Thompson-Boling Arena was not so receptive of the call.
While the charge call drew the ire of Tennessee fans, Vanderbilt calmly recorded dunks on back-to-back possessions to take a 63-52 lead with 2:45 remaining.
“It was a play that we can’t control,” Reese said. “I can’t say that it was a bad call because the ref called the play, he knows more than I do. He called a call, but it was frustrating to see that play. I wouldn’t say that just because of that (call), we put our heads down. We still got to be tough enough to keep playing.”
Spotlight- Freshman Detrick Mostella never entered the game in the loss to Vanderbilt.
Tyndall said the reason Mostella stayed on the bench was due to an injury.
“He tweaked his ankle a couple days ago in practice,” Tyndall said. “He was real limited and he didn’t practice on Tuesday. He was really limited yesterday. hopefully he will be back ready to go on Saturday.”
The Other Guys: Kornet led all scores with 21 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
He was perfect from the field in the second half, shooting 5-of-5 from the field and scoring 18 points.
Outside the Box Score: Tennessee has now lost four straight SEC home games. The last time that happened was in the 1994-1995 season.
