LEXINGTON, Ky. — Tennessee freshman Nate Ament said it simply but accurately.
“Couldn’t make layups. Couldn’t make free throws. Turned the ball over too much, me included.”
It was a terrible trifecta that led to Tennessee basketball blowing another double-digit halftime lead in its 74-71 loss against Kentucky on Saturday night. After leading by 11 at the intermission in Knoxville three weeks ago, this time Tennessee fumbled a 14 point lead— marking biggest second half comeback for the Wildcats in the 49-year history of Rupp Arena.
“We can’t make the mistakes we made,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “And yet we need some of those baskets at the rim to take the pressure off the perimeter guys. We’ve got to get some of them.”
That was the most obvious issue. Tennessee shot a putrid 20% from the field in the first half and many of the misses were extremely makeup, if not easy at the rim. The Vols’ front court quartet combined to shoot just two-of-13 in the second half. Only one of those misses came from farther than five feet.
Estrella especially struggled in the second half, missing five field goals around the rim and two free throws. He’s the best offensive player on the front line and took shots Tennessee wants him to. He simply did not make them.
“I think they can get contagious,” sophomore guard Bishop Boswell said of missed bunnies. “We’re settling and we’re missing and we’re not grabbing it and putting it back in with force. We’re just tipping it around and we know we can make those shots so it’s frustrating.”
Senior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie came out on fire, scoring 14 points in the first 15 minutes. He proceeded to score one second half point on zero-of-six shooting from the field with zero assists. Gillespie is the veteran and one of Tennessee’s clear top two offensive options. His disappearance made an effective second half offensive performance nearly impossible.
“He’s got to be better, and that’s one of the things I told him at halftime,” Barnes said. “And he plays hard and we need him to, I’ve said it all year, he’s got to learn to shoot a mid-range jump shot. And he’s got a good one.”
Combine Gillespie’s lack of production with the front line’s inability to produce and it put an abundance of pressure on Nate Ament. The five-star freshman was terrific in the first half, scoring 29 points. Ament added 10 more points and was solid in the second half, but he also totaled three of Tennessee’s seven second half turnovers and was unable to drag the Vols to the finish line.
“I do think that the turnovers, we had a couple turnovers at the absolute worst time you could have it, that we have to fix,” Barnes said. “Now we’ve talked about that enough, all year, but I can think of, I mean, we got to take care of the ball better.”
The end result was a 24 point half with 24 missed shots from the field, five missed free throws and a massive blown lead.
“I think we were too passive,” Boswell said. “I think the first half we did a good job being aggressive. But in the second half we were just playing with the lead and a little too passive.”
It happening twice in three weeks against Tennessee’s biggest rival makes it all the harder to stomach. The Vols had shown mental growth in the time since their previous loss to Kentucky. But they took a step back Saturday night and continue to struggle to put a complete 40 minutes together.
