Tennessee basketball is at the halfway point in SEC play, boasting a 6-3 record ahead of Saturday’s rivalry matchup at Kentucky. The Vols lost three of their first five SEC games before reeling off four straight wins including a pair of impressive road victories.
So where does Tennessee stand at the first half of SEC play? Here’s four stats that tell the story of the Vols’ first nine SEC games.
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*Stats via KenPom and BartTorvik
11.9
The difference in points per game between Tennessee’s second and third leading scorers in SEC play. Ja’Kobi Gillespie leads the Vols with 19.8 points per game in conference play. Nate Ament is right behind him with 19.6 points per game.
Then there’s an 11.9 point per game drop to Bishop Boswell at 7.7 points per game. Three Vols— Boswell, JP Estrella and Jaylen Carey— are all averaging between seven and eight points per game in SEC play.
This is what we thought like Tennessee’s scoring dispersion would look like before the season. Gillespie and Ament make up an elite one-two punch while there’s either offensive inconsistency or a lack of firepower behind them. It’s not a bad thing, especially with how Gillespie and Ament are finding more-and-more consistency.
44.0
Tennessee’s offensive rebounding percentage in SEC play. The Vols were rebounding 46.1% of their misses in non conference play and we wondered at what rate they could continue to rebound the ball as they faced tougher competition.
The increase in competition has not affected them much. Tennessee is a dominant force on the offensive glass with head coach Rick Barnes calling it “their best offense.” Tennessee has rebounded over 40% of its misses in six of nine SEC games and has rebounded over 50% of its misses in three games.
Tennessee’s 45.2% offensive rebound rate on the season is currently the third best of any team this century. This is a truly elite offensive rebounding team.
19.1
The Vols’ turnover percentage in SEC play. It ranks last in the SEC. Tennessee’s offensive success continues to be limited because of the high rate which they turn the ball over.
In its three losses, Tennessee is turning it over on 20.6% of its possessions. The Vols are turning it over on 18.1% of their possessions in their six wins. So the issue has been more prevalent in losses but remains an issue in wins too. Tennessee has showed some signs of improvement as of late, turning it over at less than an 18% clip in three of its last four games.
For comparison sake, the Vols posted a 16.1% turnover rate a season ago and a 13.8% turnover rate two seasons ago in SEC play.
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16.9
The gap between Tennessee’s 3PA/FGA defensive percentage and 3PA/FGA offensive percentage. In more simple terms, 48.1% of the Vols’ opponents shots are three-pointers while just 31.2% of Tennessee’s shots are from three-point range.
Tennessee is shooting the least amount of three-pointers of anyone in the SEC while allowing opponents to shoot more three-pointers than any other team.
We wrote earlier this season about how Tennessee wasn’t going to shoot many three-pointers, so that part is no surprise. The Vols are also shooting more free throws than anyone in the conference which is a positive development despite the shaky free throw shooting. But Tennessee’s defense forcing a bunch of three-pointers is a bit of a new development and a surprise.
8
The number of Tennessee players totaling over nine minutes per game in SEC play. That group includes Gillespie, Ament, Boswell, Estrella, Carey, DeWayne Brown, Felix Okpara and Amari Evans. All eight players are totaling over 17 minutes per game.
Both Troy Henderson and Amaree Abram are getting minutes every game they’re healthy but are down at just 8.7 and six minutes per game, respectively. So Tennessee is playing 10 players most games, but there’s eight players that Barnes and his staff most trust right now.
The development is not shocking, Barnes usually shrinks his bench as the season progresses, but is still notable. Evans becoming a true consistent rotation guy continues a trend we saw begin late in non conference play.
