Tennessee basketball came out the gates extremely slow and never recovered, falling to Vanderbilt 86-82 on Senior Night in Knoxville. Ja’Kobi Gillespie struggled and Tennessee could not do enough else to dig itself out of the early hole.
Here’s three quick takeaways on the loss.
Tennessee Was Abysmal To Start The Game
Tennessee looked extremely disinterested to begin the game, digging themselves a major hole with poor play on both ends of the court. Vanderbilt scored the game’s first six points before opening up a 15-2 lead less than six minutes into the game.
The Vols’ offense was abysmal from the jump without Nate Ament. Tennessee badly needed a big game from Ja’Kobi Gillespie but he started slowly on Senior Day, turning the ball over three times in that stretch with Rick Barnes having to sit him down due to poor play.
Turnovers were rampant early in the game leading to doomed offensive possessions. The Vols attempted just five shots on their first nine possessions. Defensively, the issues were not as rampant but Tennessee still struggled to get stops.
Perhaps most glaring part was Tennessee’ struggles on the glass early. A bad rebounding Vanderbilt team got, and took advantage, of second chance opportunities.
The terrible start saw Vanderbilt quickly jump out to a double-digit lead that the Vols struggled to ever cut into over a long period of time. They made periodic runs but
Ja’Kobi Gillespie Struggled And Tennessee’s Offense Largely Did Too
With Ament sidelined, Tennessee had limited offensive options available. The Vols needed Ja’Kobi Gillespie to play well to give them any real chance of winning. Tennessee did not only got a poor performance from Gillespie but the star senior turned in one of his worst performance of the season.
Gillespie missed 10 of his first 11 shots from the field as he struggled to get anything going. He finally made some shots at the rim later in the game but finished with 17 points on five-for-21 shooting from the field.
The transfer guard can be effective without scoring. That was the case at South Carolina when he dished out 12 assists with just one turnover. But that was not the case against Vanderbilt where Gillespie turned it over five times and only totaled three assists.
Tennessee’s offense was particularly terrible in the first half, scoring just 22 points. They sped up the pace and made enough happen in the second half but still did not do enough to overcome the first half.
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Amari Evans Provided A Jolt
Freshman Amari Evans made his second straight start in place of the injured Nate Ament and was one of the few positives against Vanderbilt. He scored the Vols’ first six points and 12 of their 22 first half points.
The freshman guard finished the game with a team-high 24 points on nine-for-18 shooting from the field. Evans added six rebounds and three steals.
Evans did most his damage by getting downhill and to the basket though he knocked down a few midrange jumpers and two three-pointers. There were some areas to nitpick with Evans. He missed the front end of the bonus twice and had some bad gambles on defense.
But Tennessee badly needed someone to provide offense and Evans was one of just a few positives. It was not enough against Vanderbilt but brings optimism moving forward.
Final Stats
Up Next
With the loss, Tennessee will not earn a top four seed and the subsequent double-bye. If Florida beats Kentucky tonight, Tennessee will be the five-seed. If Kentucky wins, Tennessee will be the six-seed. The Vols first game will be on Thursday.
