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Jordan McRae poured in a season-high 34 points and Jeronne Maymon added a season-high tying 17 points as Tennessee dropped the Arkansas Razorbacks 81-74 at Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday night.
Tennessee shot 30-38 from the free throw line, a season-high in makes and one off the season-high for attempts, and led by as many as six points in the first half. But Arkansas forced Tennessee into 15 turnovers and flipped the game growing an eight-point lead of its own in the second half. A flagrant foul call on Kikko Haydar gave the Vols two shots and the ball, which they converted into five points. UT went from down two to up three and never looked back.
McRae goes all Jordan
It wasn’t so much how McRae dominated that impressed, but when.
Arkansas’ defense sagged on McRae in the first half in an attempt to cut off his drive and force bad shots. McRae played along, shooting 4-10 in the first half and missing on all three of his 3-point attempts.
“I think the difference is in the first half with his shots- they were leaners, floaters, off-balanced rushed shots,” Cuonzo Martin said. “In the second half- squared up, catch and shoot, attacking the rim under controI.”
But when Tennessee’s metaphorical back was against the wall, when the Vols needed him most, McRae made bucket after bucket.
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Arkansas scored on its first three possessions after halftime and McRae answered with back-to-back 3-pointers, scoring 8 of Tennessee’s first ten points after the break.
Then over the next 5 minutes Arkansas went on a 17-6 run, in which McRae attempted just one shot, and the Razorback took an eight-point lead. Buuuut then Jordan answered twice more hitting a 3-ball to cut the lead back to five and eventually another triple, his fourth of the half, to give the Vols the lead for the final time in the game. When the dust settled, McRae scored the final thirteen points of the game for Tennessee.
HE PUT THE TEAM ON HIS BACK DOE. [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Link NSFW, turn the sound down, playas.]
This was a game that the Vols could absolutely not afford to lose, and McRae made sure they didn’t.
Jeronne “The Main Man” Maymon
After missing two crucial free throws at the end of the Texas A&M game, redemption was in the cards for Maymon against the Razorbacks. He nailed 9-10 from the charity stripe, including the pair that tied the game after Haydar’s flagrant with 2 and some change remaining.
“I think it gave us momentum, especially when Jeronne [Maymon] made the free throws,” Martin said, on the game’s turning point. “I think it helped us. You have to make free throws.”
With Stokes unproductive, facing a crowd of red jerseys all evening, Maymon picked up the slack. In addition to the 17 points, Maymon led the Vols in rebounding with nine boards. The Tennessee big man had his best game since his 17-point and 16-rebound effort against NC State. He got blocked on a layup at least once, his mandatory, per-game minimum, but for the most part he was crafty around the basket with his finishes.
“I think he’s healthy,” Martin said. “I think it’s just a case of the rhythm and flow of the games and he’ll make any adjustments because the problem that he has is he probably doesn’t have the lift like he used to, so now the adjustment is when he going against a bigger guy is getting a feel for his opponent, because you still have guys hovering around him. When he beats one guy, there’s another guy coming on the backside.”
What Martin’s saying is that Maymon’s opponents smell the blood in the water. They will continue to hound him under the basket because they know he’s going to have to find a somewhat unconventional way to score, whether it be with a series of pump fakes or a reverse layup or whatever. If he goes straight up the ball ends up in the seats. Though Maymon was never an above-the-rim guy, the knee injury has certainly robbed him of what ups he did have. But he’s a warrior, and he makes up for his physical deficiencies with his effort. Dude leaves everything he has on the floor each time out.
R-$
Armani Moore continues to just be so money off the bench for the Vols. [Link NSFW]
Moore turned in his best performance of the year against the Hogs stuffing the stat sheet with five points, four rebounds and four (!) blocks in his 18 minutes off the bench. R-$ has worked himself into a sort of sixth-man role for the Vols, recording nearly 20 minutes his last two games while bringing effort, energy and flat out going hard every time he hits the court.
“Armani is a tough kid. I knew it was just a matter of time for him,” Martin said. “He battles. . . He doesn’t let up, and his minutes will continue to grow because of how he plays.”
I applauded Moore for his weak-side rebounding after the Kentucky game, and he uses the same tools to block shots from the weak-side, too. Great lift and great anticipation. Though McRae statistically leads the team in blocks, Moore is the team’s most natural shot blocker, which is something his teammates have noticed in practice.
“That’s Armani,” McRae said. “He makes those kinds of plays in practice all the time – blocks and things like that. We need somebody like that all the time to come in and bring energy for us and helped us out a lot tonight.”
Next Up
Tennessee travels to Gainesville Saturday for the first of two games against the No. 6 ranked 15-2 Florida Gators. Five Gators average in double figures scoring with Casey Prather leading the way averaging more than 17 points a game to go with 5.5 rebounds. Tennessee’s beat the Gators in three straight match ups as Martin has yet to lose to Billy Donovan. The game is at 4 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.
*Special Thanks to the photographers at UTSports.com. Their galleries are always full of great shots after the games, and that’s typically where I get the photos I use in these stories. I encourage you to check them out.
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