The Official #7 Tennessee vs. #13 Maryland Game Thread, 4:30 PM ET, FS1

[foolonthehill]

Who is the escape goat for that?

I only took it for basalt

 

[EasternVol]

I only took it for basalt

That's more what it's worth.

 

[camp_steveo]

Beating a top 15 team without JJJ is a good sign that this Vols team can dig deep and find a way to win.

You gotta give credit to Maryland for fighting back into the game like they did. They are a good team and UT had them on the ropes early.

Go Vols!

 

[Jax_Vol]

Beating a top 15 team without JJJ is a good sign that this Vols team can dig deep and find a way to win.

You gotta give credit to Maryland for fighting back into the game like they did. They are a good team and UT had them on the ropes early.

Go Vols!

Beat them without JJJ and Aidoo

 

[Govolsman98]

Some of you probably noticed, Santi’s shoulder was getting stiff at the end of the game. They were working on it in the timeout. JJJ had return of heavy fluid on the knee this week. I really hope those guys can recover for conference play. We’re starting to look like a Civil War hospital.

This is the most beat up team we've had in a while

 

[DooleyOrangePants]

Awaka deserves at least 10 minutes a game, give him some of Olivier’s

Man that’s the truth. Awaka doesn’t bring much on the offensive end, but he has potential to grow into it and be a real contributor. What he does defensively and on the boards needs to get him some minutes. I don’t care how good ON played in Finland, it’s time to show it or give the kids some minutes.

 

[Caculator]

Man that’s the truth. Awaka doesn’t bring much on the offensive end, but he has potential to grow into it and be a real contributor. What he does defensively and on the boards needs to get him some minutes. I don’t care how good ON played in Finland, it’s time to show it or give the kids some minutes.

He was Z's shadow in the paint and had several putbacks on the follow

 

[tdd]

We’re hurting without JJJ’s and SV’s offense. We simply struggle to put the ball in the hoop

Absolutely. If those two are out consistently, we may struggle in SEC play. We need someone to pickup the scoring game in and game out.

 

[tdd]

After enjoying that big lead we took it for granite

I think this team likes a big time scorer. We just struggle to score most of the time.

 

[vegasvolfan]

He was Z's shadow in the paint and had several putbacks on the follow

*Kyle Alexander 2.0

 

[VolsSportsFan]

I didn't like that we seemed to disappear around the 10:00 mark in the second half.

But I will say that in the past I think we lose this game. So to hang on and still get the W is great.

 

[Mccage]

Found a way to win a fist fight. I'll take it every. single. time.

This^ .....we played ugly but not as ugly as Maryland! We can make teams play ugly and that's a huge plus!

 

[Hbg]

This is a really bad take.

Spot on in my eyes

 

[D3Athlete]

We won without James and Aidoo against a top 15 team. That is huge. Second half was depressing no questions about it. That were JJJ is needed. Have him, the collapse probably doesn’t happen.
Also, our defensive efficiency keeps getting better at 81.5 right now. That is ridiculously good.

 

[Hbg]

Man that’s the truth. Awaka doesn’t bring much on the offensive end, but he has potential to grow into it and be a real contributor. What he does defensively and on the boards needs to get him some minutes. I don’t care how good ON played in Finland, it’s time to show it or give the kids some minutes.

Compare TA and ON stats for this game vs their minutes, TA isn’t lacking offensively comparatively.

 

[turbovol]

Very ugly game, very ugly win, but better than an ugly loss. Good grief. Big lead in the first half and squeak out a 3-point win on 29 percent shooting, miss 10 of 21 free throws. No, we don't have a big-time scorer; Vescovi is as close as we come, but he can be erratic and we he's not hitting shots we can be in trouble. I think has the season goes along Phillips will become more of a go-to player for us--and we certainly need him to continue to develop and gain confidence, though he may not draw much confidence tonight from his 1-10 shooting. ON needs some eye of the tiger---terrible shooting night by him and pretty much everybody. Defense saved us--holding Maryland to 53 obviously won the game for us. Certainly, this team will need TripleJ back and with a relatively healthy knee sometime soon. Wouldn't be surprised to hear him lined up for surgery after the season--but not before then, let's hope.

 

[calban]

Our 7 footers could add 10 points a game if they'd start dunking instead of trying to finese lay ups. Forgotten arts. that and the qb sneak in football.

 

[Lukusw]

We are 9-1 with two top-15 wins. Everyone repeat after me:

"I can enjoy imperfect things & I'm allowed to have nice things."

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Honestly, not playing Awaka & Mashack more in the 2nd half I think contributed to the collapse.

Really bad night from the free throw line, that’s gotta get fixed before March. We gotta be able to hit 70% or better if we wanna make some noise.

 

[87&91ALUM]

A tight win with JJJ on the bench in a hostile environment is still a win...maybe a more important win in terms of working harder in the gym. Go Vols...just keep winning!

 

[CAVPUT]

He was SOO bad with the press

He tries to dribble through traffic and his lack of height is really a problem with the press. Has to be quicker with his decision making and pass to beat the press. Barnes needs to address this and get it solved because until they do, they're going to see a lot more of it.

 

[CAVPUT]

I think this team likes a big time scorer. We just struggle to score most of the time.

I'm hoping we see Phillips become our go to guy when we need a bucket. Having Mashack continuing to develop would also be huge. Having those two on the floor producing together would be extremely difficult for defenses. They'll be tough match ups athletically.

 

[supersmo18]

I’m happy for him and he brought great effort, but that absolutely wasn’t one of his better performances.

Agree, but no one on the team deserved it more than him, IMO. The team as a whole did not play to their potential but did end up winning, so I think he’s probably the only clear choice based on what we saw tonight

 

[JoAllan]

We start playing games like this, we'll get rolled in SEC play by lesser opponents who can play and keep their 'ish together under pressure... we SUCK under pressure in these situations --- as we saw with all the messy turnovers, missed layups, shots, and FT's... you have to make your FT's...

I'm sure Barnes will come out and start subtly pointing fingers and once again not take any ownership in that potential flop...I actually think the guy is regressing on coaching/game management... calling a timeout in the middle of a fast break... Dip-i'sh move.

Tennessee definitely need to hit frees.

However much of what we saw could easily have been rectified if James and Aidoo were available.

Phillips & Plavsic were in foul trouble……which wouldn’t have to happen. Everyone else could have been much fresher especially down the stretch…….if you add those two key players, and two others weren’t out much because of foul trouble (also brought on because of missing players).

Tennessee beat a good team away from home with two key players missing…….many teams would have lost that game…….Tennessee didn’t.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

After enjoying that big lead we took it for granite

yeah, it was a rocky finish.