As he raced towards Kevin Punter in an attempt to receive the inbounds pass on Tennessee’s final possession of regulation against Vanderbilt, Robert Hubbs epitomized the Volunteers’ yearlong theme.

Learning on the fly.

One half prior to the sophomore guard’s game-tying basket at the buzzer, Hubbs found himself in a similar situation.

The result, however, was much different.

With the Volunteers clinging to a 35-32 lead and two seconds remaining in the first half, the Newbern, Tennessee, native made a run towards the inbounder. This time, though, the pass fell through his hands, setting up a missed buzzer-beater for Vanderbilt.

Twenty minutes of play later, Hubbs proved he was a quick learner.

“The play was set up to just come back to the ball and get open,” said Hubbs following Wednesday’s contest. “Kevin found me, and I ran my hands through the ball. At the end of the (first) half, we ran a play and they actually stole it because I didn’t run my hands through the ball, so I made sure I did that this time.”

The rest is history. Hubbs turned the catch into a drive and a shot, and the Vols ultimately completed their come-from-behind 76-73 victory in overtime, while also snapping a stretch that had seen them drop four of their last five games in the process.

And while Hubbs’ late-game heroics proved to be the memorable example of Tennessee’s learning, it was far from the only instance.

During their two-game losing streak, the Vols watched as Mississippi State and Georgia shot a combined 15-of-27 from 3-point range.

On Wednesday, UT was seemingly at the mercy of the long ball again, as the Commodores, who ranked fourth in the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage entering the contest, rained down their first five attempts from downtown.

From there, though, the Vols halted the onslaught, forcing Vanderbilt to shoot 1-of-12 from beyond the arc after its hot start.

“Last year, my team at Southern Miss was 21-3 and we went Middle Tennessee and they made their first nine threes in the first half,” Tennessee head coach Donnie Tyndall said. “(Vanderbilt) made their first five, and I was thinking ‘Man, the Nashville and Murfreesboro area is bad to me.’

“But it kind of balanced out over 40 minutes.”

Tyndall hopes the lack of balance from deep will not resurface against LSU, where he coached from 1997-2001 as an assistant.

Currently, the Tigers rank 10th in the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage, sandwiched between the two teams that gave the Vols trouble from beyond the arc — Mississippi State and Georgia — last week.

Coming off an opposite late-game performance against the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday, in which they blew a last-minute second half lead, the Tigers will be looking to get back on track when they play the Vols inside Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday.