Tennessee basketball stayed unbeaten on the season by using defense to build a massive early lead and coast to a 89-60 victory against Tennessee State. Despite the lopsided score, there was a lot not to like about Tennessee’s performance.
Here’s three quick takeaways on the win.
Tennessee Jumps On The Tigers With Defense
Tennessee has played with its food in the first half in a handful of early season buy games. That was not the case against TSU as the Vols used strong defense to just out to a 24-4 lead in the game’s first 11 minutes.
With Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack gone, Tennessee has not been great at forcing turnovers this season. But the Tigers could stop turning the ball over against Tennessee. It took until the 4:45 mark in the first half for TSU to total more points than they had turnovers.
The Vols’ ball pressure certainly made life difficult on Tennessee State but many of the mistakes were simply self inflicted. That, in part, meant that most of Tennessee State’s turnovers were dead ball turnovers and made it more difficult for the Vols to get out and run.
TSU finally got some stuff going on the offensive end to end the first half but the game was well in hand at that point with Tennessee jumping out to a 43-21 lead at the break.
Jaylen Carey Gives Tennessee What They Need
Vanderbilt transfer Jaylen Carey stacked a second straight strong game together in the win. Carey had struggled in the season’s first three games but found his footing earlier this week against Rice and followed it up with a better performance against TSU.
Carey showed a really impressive ability to pass the basketball. The Tigers frequently doubled Tennessee guards off of ball screens leaving Carey open in the middle of the court. He did a strong job of making the right decision and accurate passes, finishing the game with four assists.
The 6-foot-8 forward also totaled six points on three-of-four shooting and added four rebounds in the win. Maybe most significantly. Carey showed some fight after a hard foul on Nate Ament. He said this offseason that he was going to be Ament’s muscle and he showed it in the instance.
Where Carey struggled was with foul trouble, picking up two in the first half and two more quickly in the second half. A handful were silly and unnecessary fouls. Tennessee needs Carey to step up while JP Estrella is out but that makes his ability to stay out of foul trouble important too.
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Turnovers Remain An Issue For Tennessee
Tennessee’s turnover issue was not nearly as prevalent as TSU’s on Thursday night, but the Vols were also way to cavalier with the basketball against the Tigers. The Vols turned the ball over 17 times for a 22.4% turnover rate on Thursday night.
It’s been a reoccurring issue for Tennessee all season. The Vols have totaled double digit turnovers in all five games this season and now boast a 20.1% turnover rate, a mark that ranks 277th nationally.
Tennessee has played only buy games this season and has been unable to take care of the ball. It’s the worst sign this team has showed during the first stretch of the season and has to get cleaned up if they’re going to be a true contender.
The issue is not immune to just one or two Tennessee players either. It’s an across the board issue though point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie has particularly struggled with them.
Box Score
Up Next
After five buy games to begin the season, Tennessee basketball heads to Las Vegas next week for three games at the Players Era Festival. The Vols open play in Vegas at 1 p.m. ET Monday against Rutgers.
