Vols Suffer Another Early Exit, Handled by Oregon State
Tennessee came into the NCAA Tournament as a five-seed against the twelve-seed Oregon State Beavers. The Vols had high hopes with a bracket that favored them if they could come out and play well. Tennessee played hard in the SEC Tournament, winning against a physical Florida team, and losing a game against eventual SEC Champion Alabama that they had to feel like they let slip through their fingers. Rick Barnes stated earlier in the week that he felt his team had turned the corner. The Vols felt good about their chance to make a run in the big dance, right up until the game tipped off. Tennessee started off with an ice cold performance offensively with their worst half of the season in terms of points, and never recovered. The Vols were bounced in the opening round by a score of 70-56 by the Beavers. Another disappointing loss in the first weekend of the tournament, to a team the Vols were favored against, will do Rick Barnes no good in helping shed the nickname of, “Early Exit Rick.”
Tennessee started the game absolutely ice cold from the floor, and though they never really warmed up much past that, the atrocious start was more than the Vols could overcome. Tennessee, yet again, continued to jack up three pointers despite missing them over and over again. The Vols began the game 0-9 from beyond the arc, and were 2-13 at the half, good for 15%. Tennessee finished the game 5-26 from deep, which begs the question; Why continue to shoot so many threes when the team is so poor at them? This has been a theme for Tennessee in their losses this season and for the last four seasons. The Vols get in trouble when they take too many three point shots rather than trying to drive the ball and finish at the rim. Under Rick Barnes, Tennessee has never been an exceptional three point shooting team, and there is nothing wrong with that. The Vols have had strong play from their bigs and guards that were adept at driving the lane. The Vols have consistently gotten. Into trouble when they get away from attacking in the paint and shoot too many threes. It was no different today against Oregon State, as the Vols tossed up brick after brick, while their coach, yet again, did nothing to change the offense as the Vols fell short of 60 points in a game yet again this season.
Another recurring problem for the Vols showed up at the three point line on the other side. Over the last four seasons, the Vols have struggled containing teams from deep. Teams that shoot the three particularly well have often seen that be the difference against Tennessee. Against the Beavers, it was more of the same, as Oregon State shot nearly 50% for the game from deep, going 10-21 for the game. The Vols missed John Fulkerson defensively, as 7’1” Oregon State center Roman Silva had a monster game, wearing the Vols out in the paint for 16 points on 8-8 shooting, after averaging only 6 per game all season. While it was clear Tennessee didn’t have an answer for the Beavers in the paint, especially with Yves Pons sitting with two fouls in the first half, the Tennessee defense never adjusted. It is safe to say that most coaches would have considered switching to a zone defense, using the length the Vols have to challenge the passing lanes and attempt to prevent the ball from getting inside. Instead, Tennessee remained in their standard man-to-man defense, continuing to get beat up inside and struggling to defend the three.
Late in the game, the Vols went on a scoring run and played furious defense, closing the gap to 10 with just over a minute to play. Even with the run, the game was never in doubt, as the Vols trailed by double figures essentially the entire contest. Tennessee was never able to overcome their pathetic start, despite several impressive performances. Keon Johnson tried to will the Vols back into the game in the second half, scoring 14 points and putting the team offensively on his back the second half. Fellow freshman Jaden Springer added in 12 points as another steady effort and contributor to the Tennessee offense. The Vols ended up being out rebounded 40-34, but that figure would have been drastically worse without 13 rebounds and 5 points from Josiah Jordan-James, who played through a banged up wrist and a turned ankle. Tennessee showed some heart and urgency late in the game in their scoring run, but it was too little, too late. Had the Vols showed that same kind of focus and intensity before the final five minutes of the game, the outcome may have been different. As it was, Tennessee looked I’ll prepared, disinterested, and lethargic for most of the game, while Oregon State was hungry and intense, and in the end, the Beavers simply wanted it more.
This brings an end to what will be looked back at as an enormously disappointing season for the Vols. Tennessee was considered a favorite to win both the SEC and the National Titles this season. They spent a significant amount of time in the Top 10 in the nation. In the end, they have nothing at all to show for it after finishing fourth in the SEC, losing in the Semifinals of the SEC Tournament, and now a shocking loss where they were dominated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. One of the most talented teams in the history of Tennessee basketball again looked sloppy and lacked motivation on a big stage. The Vols laid a massive egg with a huge opportunity before them, and are yet again heading home early after falling well short of expectations. Perhaps the most frustrating part of that equation is that they have lost this season the same way over and over again, while Rick Barnes failed to make a single adjustment to improve the team all season long. Now the Vols head into the off season with a mountain of questions, but their poor performance, lack of effort, and failure to make any type of adjustments ensured they will have a few extra weeks to answer them.
