Despite a big day from its bash brothers, Tennessee fell short to Kentucky and its twin brothers by a 74-66 score.
Vol bruisers Jarnell Stokes and Jeronne Maymon combined for 32 points and 20 rebounds, but the 40 combined points (27 in the second half) from Kentucky’s Andrew and Aaron Harrison proved too much for the Vols to overcome.
Along with strong performances from the Harrison twins, Kentucky nailed seven 3-pointers, compared to Tennessee’s two, and hit 23-24 foul shots on the way to its eight-point victory.
Let’s take a look at a few of the stories that developed in Rupp Arena on Saturday.
Tennessee’s Outside Shooting Woes/ Lack of Guard Play
These two topics are similar, and complementary, so I thought I’d lump them together. As I mentioned, Tennessee hit just two of the 13 3-point attempts it took against Kentucky. McRae hit a triple early that put the Vols up 9-2, but Tennessee didn’t hit another one until Darius Thompson’s with 3 minutes left in the game. McRae finished the contest just 1-7 from deep, accounting for more than half of Tennessee’s misses from behind the arc. Antonio Barton missed his two attempts, both of which came on open looks.
Barton and Josh Richardson combined for six points on 2-11 shooting. Ouch. Oh, and while McRae scored 17 points, he needed 14 shots and eight free throws to get there. McRae has been forcing things lately, and its hurting his efficiency. Tennessee is tough to beat when they get and hit open threes AND get some scoring from Barton and Richardson. But even in a game where Tennessee owned the paint, one can’t expect to beat Kentucky with a perimeter performance like the one UT turned in on Saturday.
Dominating Down Low
So, that’s what it looks like when Jarnell Stokes plays motivated basketball. Why don’t we see that every game? Stokes outplayed freshman phenom and soon-to-be NBA player Julius Randle, scoring his 20 points in a variety of ways. We, and some NBA scouts, saw Stokes shoot the hook shot over his left shoulder, nail a face-up jumper and use a surprisingly nimble spin move to score. It was the most well-rounded offensive performance of Stokes’ career at Tennessee. Now let’s see him keep it up.
Before the game I assumed Willie Cauley-Stein’s height would give Stokes and Maymon trouble, but that wasn’t the case. Defensively, Tennessee held Cauley-Stein to zero points and three rebounds on 0-5 shooting and used its muscle to bully him out of the way on offense. Randle got his, no doubt, but I thought the Vols did a good job of corralling him without fouling, especially in the first half.
Tennessee scored 38 points in the paint, compared to Kentucky’s 26, and out rebounded the Cats 39-24. 20 of those 39 rebounds were offensive, leading to 20 second chance points. Those 20 offensive rebounds are good for second-highest total of the season, behind the 26 Tennessee collected in a loss against UTEP. This was also the second time the Vols collected more offensive rebounds than defensive rebounds, the occasion also being the UTEP game. As both results were a loss, I’m not really sure if that stat is more praise for the offensive rebounding or an indictment on the defensive rebounding.
After making a point to get the ball inside early, Tennessee got away from it too much in the second half. After attempting 15 shots in the first half, Stokes and Maymon took a combined eight shots after halftime.
Support the Supporting Cast
While Antonio Barton and Josh Richardson struggled, Tennessee got great minutes from some of the other guys on the bench.
Armani Moore didn’t play in the Auburn game but played 15 minutes and, like he always does, provided a spark for Tennessee with his hustle, defense and rebounding. Moore may be the best weak-side rebounder on the team. He’s got great anticipation and just flat goes up to get the ball. The Vols got nearly 10 minutes from Pops Ndiaye and Derek Reese, although Reese didn’t collect a rebound this time out. Ndiaye played tough defense and allowed Stokes to sit early in the game when Kentucky sat Randle.
Thompson added five points in 13 minutes and turned the ball over just once. The freshman point guard has just 17 turnovers in 286 minutes of action this season. Thompson needs to work on his on-ball defense, but his propensity to take care of the ball bodes well for Tennessee’s future at point guard.
Up Next
The Arkansas Razorbacks come to town as Tennessee returns to its home floor on Wednesday. After a close, two-point loss to Florida, and a victory over Kentucky, Arkansas lost to Georgia by five on Saturday. The Vols need to play well and take care of an up-and-down Razorback squad before traveling to Florida next Saturday.