Poor rebounding, late miscues haunt Vols in loss to Texas A&M
On a night when the majority of basketball fans were joining together in remembering a fallen legend, Tennessee found its own unique way to honor Kobe Bryant.
Donning purple shoelaces with “R.I.P. Kobe” written across each of their sneakers, the Vols hosted Texas A&M on Tuesday with both extending their conference win streak and No. 24 on their minds.
Unfortunately for UT, only one of those realities manifested itself.
Despite 15 points and seven rebounds from John Fulkerson, 13 points from Jordan Bowden and 10 points each from Yves Pons and Santiago Vescovi, Tennessee was unable to overcome the Aggies’ onslaught on the boards, falling 63-58 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The loss marks the Vols’ eighth on the year and third in conference play.
Wendell Mittchell led Texas A&M (10-9, 4-3 SEC) with 23 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 48 seconds left in regulation that put the Aggies ahead for good.
For Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, the loss stung a tad bit more because the Vols were able to execute their defensive gameplan, but were unable to finish off those defensive possessions throughout.
“We guarded the way we needed to, we just didn’t rebound,” Barnes said. “The fact is, at the end when we needed to get some rebounds, we weren’t able to do it.”
As a team, UT gave up 23 offensive rebounds, with freshman forward Jonathan Aku accounting for seven of those.
While the final score may not be indicative, Tennessee (12-8, 4-3 SEC) got off to a quick start, tallying seven of the game’s opening 10 points behind stellar shooting and stout defense. Texas A&M shot just 31 percent in the first half as UT continued to smother the Aggies on the perimeter and in the post.
By the midway point of the half, the Aggies were within two despite the Vols shooting above 50 percent.
Texas A&M corralled 10 offensive rebounds during that span, out-rebounding Tennessee 20-12 throughout the opening 20 minutes. It would only get worse for the Vols from that point, and they were well-aware of it.
“We just got out-toughed tonight...we can’t have that at home,” Bowden said. “We can’t have somebody come in and out-tough us on our home court. We just have to get better.”
The Aggies outscored the Vols 38-34 over the course of the second half and were able to have their way inside, notching another 26 rebounds during that period.
13 of those came on the offensive glass, leading to 10 second chance points for Texas A&M.
Bowden, who’s 3-pointer with just over a minute remaining evened the score at 53, shouldered much of the blame following the game, calling his turnovers unacceptable as he addressed reporters.
“We should have had plenty of more possessions on the offensive end,” Bowden said. “We had a good role (on offense) and I came in and had turnovers. I can’t do that as a leader on this team.”
The senior guard turned the ball over three times in the first half but bounced back with zero in the second. Despite that, Bowden took responsibility for plays that he labeled as unacceptable.
“I turned it over and I can’t do that as a senior on the team.”
Tennessee returns to action on Saturday in Starkville, Mississippi as they take on Mississippi State at 2 p.m. ET.
