Tennessee (L 90-78)

Game was much closer than the score indicates.

It was a punch/counter-punch game between two solid, athletic teams playing at a high level. 20 and 25 turnovers is a lot for both teams, but the turnovers were much more a function of good defense than sloppy play. Looking at the numbers from the box score, the game was evenly matched. Tennessee did not out-rebound us by that much; but they seemed to dominate the boards during that final run that erased our 6-8 point lead and gave them the lead they held onto for the win.

At the beginning of the game when we got early lead and were in zone defense we were limiting them one shot. They simply shot over the zone and kept themselves in the game. But we probably built a small rebounding edge at the beginning of the first half. In the end though, they out-rebounded us. It was their length at the guard and small forward position (something that was striking and immediately obvious at the beginning of the game) and their three-point shooting that got us. They hit a lot of threes off second opportunities. We shot the ball very well too, but really had trouble in-bounding the ball off their made shots coming out from under our basket. All of that, plus the freakish 17-point performance from Tatum (that freshman phucker!), who shot 5-6 from three-point land in sixteen minutes of play did us in. Just like Wattad's 9 points on 3-3 threes got us a lead, Tatum's 17-point performance caught us equally off guard. They got in the last punch.

Another number that jumps out is Monroe playing only 27 minutes despite being 5-6 from field. There was a stretch for Tennessee's final run when we had the lead and Monroe was on the bench. They had no answer for him. He should have been in. An extra push when we were up with Monroe in the game could have been the backbreaker for Tennessee. Maybe Tennessee's defense took Monroe away from us, but we got away from him too early and if Wattad is that hot, you have to have him shoot at least 6-8 threes or run more plays for him. It is clear now why Wattad is on the floor. He can shoot but he can't hang defensively or ball handle that well so if he is out there, you must go to him. Otherwise his possible contributions to the team are wasted and all you get is a guy who can't defend or ball handle that well on the floor.

Four out of five of the Tennessee starters are juniors and at least two if not three of them were significant contributors last year. They are a much more finished product than we are right now. At least we rose to the occasion and played our best game of the year against the best team we have played so far. I found myself thinking that each of our guys played good defense - - yet they scored 90 points and shot over 50% so that can't really be the case. We also had no blocked shots. I would love to catch them in March though.

Now we must beat Maryland. We are winning the recruiting battle locally and their program is on the ropes. A win for them over us can jumpstart things for them, even if it is just with local recruits.