NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ethen Burg roared in celebration after forcing a turnover. Bishop Boswell made two tough shots in crunch time. Amari Evans hit the free throw to ice the game. Tennessee went on the road and knocked off rival Vanderbilt 69-65 with its role players making huge winning plays.
Here’s three quick takeaways on how the Vols went on the road and defeated rival Vanderbilt.
Tennessee’s Role Players Stepped Up In A Major Way
The common belief is that role players perform well at home but that your stars have to deliver on the road. That couldn’t have been further from the truth as Tennessee’s stars were shaky while its role players starred in Nashville.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored five points in the game’s first five minutes but was largely quiet from there. He finished the night with 17 points on an inefficient six-for-14 shooting from the field. Nate Ament also played one of his worst games on the offensive end in a number of weeks.
Ament scored 13 points but really struggled from the field, making just three-of-13 field goal attempts. The freshman wing had a number of good looks at the rim in the second half, especially when Tennessee went small, but struggled to finish including a missed open dunk. But credit to Ament, he hit a contested turnaround to give Tennessee the lead for good with 54 seconds remaining
Tennessee had a number of role players perform well. Despite battling foul trouble, Brown was really solid. He scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds while playing strong defense. Ethan Burg gave Tennessee a serious spark with defense in the second half in addition to a bucket and no turnovers.
Bishop Boswell isn’t really a role player but he isn’t a prolific scorer. He had two crucial buckets back-to-back late in the game to help push Tennessee over the top.
Then Amari Evans played 19 minutes, his most in three week, and had a tough late game basket. He also hit the final free throw that iced the game.
Tennessee Battled Serious Foul Trouble On The Front Line
The Vols were without JP Estrella for the second straight game as he battles foot soreness. That left Tennessee with just three post players and Vanderbilt took advantage, putting the Vols’ front line in foul trouble throughout the game.
Felix Okpara, who started the game well offensively, was the biggest victim. He picked up his second foul with 6:24 in first half and spent the remainder of the half on the bench. Okpara never got back into a rhythm due to foul trouble. He picked up his third 20 seconds into the second half. Tennessee went back to Okpara with 15:15 to play but he picked up his fourth foul just 1:25 later. The foul trouble led to him playing just 16 minutes.
DeWayne Brown also picked up two first half fouls and then his third with 15 minutes to play. Jaylen Carey was the only Vol big man with one first half foul but he picked up two more in the first five minutes of the second half.
The combination of foul trouble forced Tennessee into playing a four-guard more than they have all season.
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Tennessee’s Defense Keeps Them In The Game Around Halftime
Tennessee came out the gates fast on the offensive end, making four of its first five and six of its first nine shots to begin the game. But after jumping out to a 21-20 lead in the game’s first 10 minutes, Tennessee’s offense went ice cold the final 10 minutes of the second half.
The Vols shot five-of-16 from the field the back half of the second half and struggled to get to the foul line. They also missed their only two foul shots during the stretch.
Vanderbilt, who also started fast offensively, remained hot for four more minutes and used the stretch to open up a nine-point lead. But that’s when Tennessee’s defense turned up the pressure and changed the game.
The Commodores scored just three points in the final five minutes of the first half and it all came at the foul line as they missed their final six field goals of the first half. That defensive push allowed Tennessee to cut the deficit to four points at halftime.
The Vols kept the defensive pressure up early in the second half with Vanderbilt scoring just five points and turning it over three times before the first media timeout in the second half. That allowed Tennessee to even up the game. That defense proved massive all night.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee is back on the road Tuesday night when they travel to Columbia to face a Missouri team desperate for a victory to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume. Tipoff between the Vols and Commodores is at 9 p.m. ET. The SEC Network is broadcasting the game.
