NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Rick Barnes threw his face in his hands over-and-over again. Tennessee turned the ball over in abysmal fashion, got pushed around down low and Mississippi State ran the Vols out of Bridgestone Arena in a 73-56 rout.
Here’s three quick takeaways as Tennessee basketball’s postseason started as poorly as possible.
A Horrific Offensive First Half
In a very reminiscent performance to its start in Starkville back in January, Tennessee’s offense was putrid out the gates against Mississippi State.
The Vols made just two of their first 13 shots, missed their first six three-pointers and turned the ball over six times by the under 12 media timeout including four straight turnovers leading right into the stretch.
A 5:50 scoring drought led to an extended Mississippi State 13-2 run that allowed the Bulldogs to open up a 15-4 lead midway through the first half.
Early, Tennessee shot poorly on some solid looks that they are very capable of making. But as the first half developed, the Vols got more discombobulated. They turned down good looks and got themselves into bad late shot clock situations. It led to turnovers and low quality looks.
The bad offense continued throughout the first half as Tennessee shot two-of-18 from the three-point line and totaled just 19 points on .576 points per possession. Tennessee’s abysmal offense allowed Mississippi State to open up a massive 38-19 halftime lead. It was the worst half the Vols have played all season.
Slow starts have become a trend in games Tennessee struggles in this season. It continued against Mississippi State.
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Mississippi State’s Physicality Dominates Tennessee
Mississippi State is one of the biggest and most physical teams in the SEC. The Bulldogs start three players over 6-foot-7 and have an abundance of muscle that makes it difficult to score inside against them.
That’s exactly what happened as the Bulldogs imposed their will inside against Tennessee. With Jonas Aidoo struggling, Tennessee didn’t have any consistent interior threat in the first half/game. Unable to get consistent good looks at the basket, the Vols had to settle for perimeter jumpers. A number of those looks were open but Tennessee couldn’t get them to go.
On the other end, Mississippi State pushed Tennessee around in the interior. The Bulldogs front court, led by Cameron Matthews, gave Tennessee an abundance of issues. Mississippi State got nearly anything they wanted at the rim, combining to shoot 19-of-25 on layups and dunks. Compare that to Tennessee who took only 15 shots at the rim and made just four of them.
The Bulldogs completely owned the paint in the matchup, outscoring Tennessee 42-14 in the paint as they coasted to the victory.
No Legitimate Second Half Run In This One
Starting extremely slow and falling behind big have been the common theme in most of Tennessee’s losses this season. In most of those games, the Vols have come storming back either throughout the second half or in the last few minutes for a too little, too late comeback.
Tennessee didn’t even have that run in them on Friday afternoon. The Vols had a pair of mini pushes including a 9-2 run to open the second half and a 10-0 run with just over five minutes to go. But both those pushes only cut Mississippi State’s lead to 12 points.
The Vols never cut the deficit to single digits once they fell behind 28-18 in the first half and never truly made Mississippi State worry the rest of the way.
The SEC Tournament loss against Mississippi State joined the road loss at Texas A&M as the only games Tennessee truly got blown out all season. It was a very discouraging way for Tennessee to play in its final game before the NCAA Tournament.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee’s run at the SEC Tournament ends after just one game. The Vols now await their NCAA Tournament draw on Sunday evening.
2 Responses
It’s March….and it’s Tennessee.
It was a very disappointing game. Tennessee shot poorly, played no defense, too many turnovers and Mississippi State double teamed Knecht. Tennessee can’t play a very physical game and I hate to say this the referee’s did not call a lot of fouls against Mississippi State. Tennessee has to not rely too much in Knecht and figure out there problem. If not they won’t make it pass the 2nd round.