Donnie Tyndall has made sure Tennessee’s lack of size remains in the public eye.
Throughout the majority of the season, though, that size disadvantage hasn’t manifested into an obstacle at all.
Except for when the Volunteers find themselves on the losing end.
In their five losses this year, the Vols hold a -5.2 rebounding margin, prompting the first-year UT head coach to reiterate the importance of the battle on the glass as they travel to Columbia, South Carolina, to face the Gamecocks, who rank 26th in the nation in rebounding margin at +7, on Tuesday.
“Rebounding for us is going to be one of our primary concerns, if not our main concern, every night just because we don’t have that physical, big-bodied front line that can go chase balls and pull them in, so boxing out is imperative every night we play,” Tyndall said. “Frank’s team is always tough and physical and hard-nosed, so we’re going to have to do an even better job of blocking out and ending possessions.”
The Vols, however, haven’t recently found themselves on the losing end when it comes to their series against South Carolina.
Tennessee currently holds a 14-game winning streak against the Gamecocks, with its last loss coming on Feb. 17, 2007, but South Carolina’s defensive prowess — holding opponents to 60.7 points per game — has UT pumping the breaks on continuing that history.
“If you settle for bad, contested shots against this team they’ll run you right out of the gym,” Tyndall said. “We are going to have to be tough and strong with the ball or it will be a long night for us.”
But after last week — when the Vols took home a victory against then-No. 19 Arkansas and followed that up with their second SEC road win of the year versus Missouri — the expectations of those long nights have dwindled dramatically.
Once thought of as a team that would finish 13th out of 14 teams in the SEC, Tennessee has begun surfacing in the latest NCAA tournament projections. As of Monday, the Vols had even received votes in the men’s basketball Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Those recent developments that have put UT on the fringe of college basketball’s spotlight, though, aren’t getting any attention from the Vols.
Instead, those same Vols are content with carrying the same mentality they’ve carried en route to their current 11-5 record.
“We have to keep that (chip-on-our-shoulder) mentality,” Tyndall said. “That’s kind of the way I have always coached. The places that I have been, we’ve never got the respect on the front end (of the season), but you want the respect and the accolades on the back end.
“The only way our team can continue to win and be competitive is to have an edge and a mentality that if we aren’t disciplined, detailed and on edge everyday, our talent is good enough and we aren’t coached well enough to just beat people.
“The reason we are at where we are at is because we are a gritty, grinding team that’s coachable and tough and have found a way to have great chemistry and play together and if any of that changes, we’ll start failing very quickly.”
The Vols’ contest against South Carolina inside Colonial Life Arena is scheduled to tip off at 9 p.m. EST.
