ATHENS, Ga. — Trailing by three points, a variety of Georgia guards dribbled around the perimeter before settling for a layup with a second left. A thrilling nail biter came to an end as anti climatically as possible with Tennessee knocking off the Bulldogs 86-85 in overtime.
Here’s three quick takeaways as Tennessee picked up its second straight road victory.
Tennessee Dominates The Glass And Holds Steady With Turnovers
Entering the game, Tennessee boasted the nation’s best offensive rebounding percentage and Georgia had the SEC’s worst defensive rebounding rate in conference games. That was an area the Vols were set up to exploit and they did just that.
Tennessee grabbed 15 first half offensive rebounds for an impressive 55.5% offensive rebound rate. That rate slowed down in the second half but the Vols still finished the game with 26 offensive board and a 56.5% offensive rebound rate.
The problem was the Vols struggled to turn the offensive rebounds into points. Many were long rebounds but even when they weren’t, Tennessee’s big men struggled to finish around the basket to fully take advantage of the opportunities.
Tennessee had some costly turnovers late but still did a solid job handling Georgia’s ball pressure, finishing the game with 12 turnovers. The combination of dominant rebounding with limiting turnovers led to Tennessee taking 10 more shots than Georgia and five free throws. That’s how the Vols won while shooting 7% worse from the field.
Georgia Starts Hot From Deep Before Cooling Off
Like Alabama, the Bulldogs get up-and-down the court at an extremely fast pace. But unlike the Crimson Tide, Georgia is not a good three-point shooting team. They entered the game shooting 30% from three-point range, a mark that ranked 220th nationally.
But the Bulldogs came out on fire against Tennessee from deep. Their performance was epitomized by 29% three-point shooter Kanon Catchings performance. Catchings made four-of-five three-point attempts in the first half before cooling off with the rest of his team.
Georgia made six-of-13 three-point attempts in the first half before slowing down relatively significantly in the second half. The Bulldogs finished the game making nine triples at a 32% clip. Tennessee weathered the three-point shooting barrage and found a way to get it done.
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Nate Ament And JP Estrella Get Tennessee To The Finish In Overtime
Tennessee was fantastic on that end of the court for the first 16 minutes of the second half. But down the stretch, the Vols’ offense was terrible and they were unable to put the game away. The Vols’ four points in the final four minutes of regulation led to the game going to overtime.
But once the game went to overtime, JP Estrella and Nate Ament provided a major boost offensively. Estrella scored four points on the first two possessions of overtime. And then on the third possession, Ament drilled a corner triple to extend Tennessee’s lead to five points.
Estrella later bailed out a terrible Tennessee possession by grabbing an errant shot attempt and drawing a foul where he made one of two free throw attempts. Those three baskets gave Tennessee control in overtime and while the game got interesting, it proved to be the major difference.
After scoring just two points int he first half, Ament finished the game with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists. Estrella played perhaps his best game of the season given the competition, going for 17 points and nine rebounds.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee basketball returns to the friendly confines of Thompson-Boling Area at Food City Center on Saturday night when they face Auburn. Tipoff between the Vols and Tigers is at 8:30 p.m. ET.
One Response
Love my Vols, but until this team can move without the ball and force the defense to move as well, they will not be competitive. They stand and pass the ball around hoping for an open player. They have no mid range jump shot and rely way too much on chucking up 3’s. That’s a low percentage shot. No one drives the lane and when they do the defense can collapse on them because they have been standing waiting on that move. Good on the offensive glass but that means they’re miassing way too many shots. Need some changes.