In three straight games, Tennessee basketball limited the turnovers.
It posted sub-10 turnover outings in wins over LSU, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt. The limitation of free possessions was a big reason why Tennessee won seven of its last eight games.
And then Tennessee hit the road for Mizzou Arena and left with a tally in the loss column. Fifteen turnovers — resulting in 23 points for the Tigers — led to a 73-69 loss on the road for the Vols.
“Ridiculous is the common theme,” head coach Rick Barnes said about the giveaways.
“It’s the way we turn it over and the ones that should’ve led to points,” Barnes said. “But you compound that with a number of bad shots, too. We’re just fighting uphill all night because we were just playing way too fast. Couldn’t see the flow of the game because guys were just playing way too fast. And when you play like that, you’re going to make those type mistakes.”
Tennessee jumped out to an early 10-point advantage on Tuesday, taking a 12-2 lead when Dennis Gates needed a timeout with 16:25 remaining. That was the last breath of fresh air for the visitors.
Amari Evans threw the ball away on the ensuing offensive possession for the Vols’ first turnover, and J.P. Estrella added the second with 12:07 left in the first half. It all went downhill from there.
Missouri went on a stretch where it forced Tennessee to turn the ball over six times in the span of 5:09 of gameplay. That directly led to a 10-5 run by the Tigers to cut the deficit to three points.
Tennessee kept the slate clean for the next five minutes — until Bishop Boswell gave the ball up with 1:07 left. T.O. Barrett, who finished the night with a career-high 28 points, took it the other direction for the slam.
It gave the Tigers its first lead of the game.
“There were some ridiculous turnovers that I wish I could have stopped them, had them run their steps, because it was crazy,” Barnes said. “I mean, there’s just no reason for it.”
Tennessee compiled seven more in the second half. Missouri scored on all but one of them — the final one that came with 10 seconds left, as Anthony Robinson II missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw.
For the game, Missouri scored on 11 of Tennessee’s 15 turnovers, amounting to 23 points.
“We’re not good enough not to play well and expect to win games against other good teams that are playing pretty good basketball,” Barnes said. “But it’s a mental letdown. And we got out to a lead and should’ve been up even more, but turnovers kept it back, and then they come back in the game and now you’re starting over again. And they played better from that point on.”
Scouting Alabama
Tennessee has a chance to make amends with a familiar opponent it has recently had success against.
The Vols welcome Alabama to Food City Center for a 6 p.m. EST tip, donning an “Orange Out” crowd theme. The last time the two teams met in Knoxville, Jahmai Mashack walked it off with a 40-plus-foot 3-pointer.
But the two teams have since met. Tennessee took down Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Jan. 24, though that came without two of the Tides’ starters — Aden Holloway and Amari Allen.
Alabama is the nation’s highest-scoring team at 92.9 points per game. It does so by taking and making the most threes at 13 makes on 36 attempts.
“They’re shooting it like crazy right now. I mean, phenomenal night the other night (against Mississippi State), which we know they’re capable of doing that,” Barnes said. “They can play in different lineups. Obviously, you can change the court. But you’re talking about, with (Holloway), he’s so dynamic with the ball.”
The Crimson Tide scored 100 points against the Bulldogs with a 22-for-50 stripe from beyond the arc. Holloway went for 16 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
Tennessee has held Alabama to 70.6 points per game during its five-game win streak in the series.
“It’s just something that we build up from past teams,” center Felix Okpara said. “I think it’s just left for us just to keep on building for the next guys. They’re a really good team.”
