Tennessee rallied from an early 13-point deficit but was unable to hold on down the stretch, despite a heroic effort from senior Jordan McRae, losing to Missouri 75-70 at Columbia on Saturday night.
“I thought it was a hard-fought game,” Cuonzo Martin said after the loss. “I thought we got out to a slow start with our transition defense. We dug ourselves a hole and were able to bounce back. In the second half, we went back and forth and what it came down to was that some of our attempts from the three-point line didn’t fall.”
“Good team win for those guys.”
McRae’s finished with a game-high 31 points, but the Vols, once again, were unable to make key plays down the stretch.
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“Jordan did a good job offensively, attacking the rim with and without contact,” Martin said. “He was solid defensively.”
Josh Richardson scored 16-points and Jarnell Stokes added 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
When Jordan McRae scores above his average and the Vols limit turnovers as they did in the game (11), one has to like their chances, especially when they out rebound their opponent and attempt more free throws. But absolutely dismal shooting is difficult to overcome and Tennessee managed only 40% from the floor, including just 35% (9-26) in the second half.
By comparison, Missouri made 57% of their field goal attempts.
With his 31 points, McRae moved up to 22nd on Tennessee’s career scoring list with 1320. After the game, he pointed to the Vols’ defense as the culprit for another tough defeat.
“We were playing hard. We came out and jumped on them early,” McRae said. “We just didn’t get the stops we needed to win at the end.”
Notably quiet late in the game was Jarnell Stokes. Tennessee settled for jump shots instead of pounding the ball inside, even though Missouri’s big men were in serious foul trouble—a head-scratcher at best.
Jarnell Stokes said he “didn’t want to point any fingers” when asked why his shot opportunities ceased in the 2nd half.
— Ben Frederickson (@Ben_Fred) February 16, 2014
Re-watched. Number of times #Vols passed to @JarnellStokes in the post in final 16:40 vs. Mizzou…once! None in last 11:41. @MarkPancratz
— Vince Ferrara (@VinceSports) February 16, 2014
With a record of 15-10 overall and 5-5 in the SEC, barring something drastic, Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament hopes are on life support. With just six regular season games remaining on the regular season schedule, it’s now or never for this team.
Next up, the Vols face Georgia in Knoxville on Tuesday night. Tipoff is 9 p.m.
UPDATE: Joe Lunardi has Vols as one of last four in after loss. “Joe Lunardi @ESPNLunardi Bubble update. FOUR IN: Mizzou, WVU, Tenn, Richmond. FOUR OUT: StJoe, StJohn, SoMiss, BYU. Spiders hanging w/o 2 starters. USM no longer AQ.”[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]