Tennessee basketball’s fight not enough: 3 takeaways from Vols loss to Kentucky

Tennessee basketball lost a close one to the Kentucky Wildcats in the SEC Tournament Championship game. Here are three takeaways from the Volunteers loss.

Well, you can’t win them all. Tennessee basketball fell 77-72 in an intense back and forth game to the Kentucky Wildcats. This win gives the Wildcats their fourth SEC Tournament Championship in a row.

Early in the game, the Vols looked like they were going to get run out of the gym. They came out soft on both sides of the ball. They were making bad decisions and being very tentative on offense as well as missing easy shots. It was like they were scared of Kentucky or something. Maybe the Big Blue Nation effect?

Tennessee was down 27-12 with eight minutes to go in the first half and by the four-minute mark, they were 5-25 from the floor and only 1-for-9 from the three-point line. Dreadful, to say the least, but then came a spark.

All-SEC Second Team selection, Admiral Schofield went off to get the Vols back in the game by scoring 13 straight points with three consecutive three-point shots to cut the lead to five going into halftime.

Kentucky shot 46% to Tennessee’s 28% at halftime, but the Vols were only down five thanks to Admiral Schofield’s 17 points and eight rebounds.

The second half showcased two teams that didn’t want to lose the game. It was back and forth all half long.

Late in the game, Schofield was hustling after a loose ball hurting his nose that made him go out of the game. That stretch, the Vols couldn’t get anything going and ended up losing the game. It ended up being a turning point in the game.

With the loss, Tennessee basketball enters NCAA Tournament yet again without a conference title, something they haven’t won in nearly 40 years. Nonetheless, being SEC regular season co-champions is still a major accomplishment. This loss doesn’t change that. Here are three takeaways from the Vols’ loss.

1. Crumbled Late in the Game

When it came crunch time, when it mattered most, Tennessee basketball didn’t do anything to win the game. All fundamentals were lost. In crucial situations, they failed to box out and gave Kentucky two easy baskets around the rim. One was off of a free throw, where it looked like two Tennessee players fell on top of each other.

Add a questionable three-point shot, and you get down by six points and have to foul to extend the game. Box out, and maybe the game turns out different.

2. Schofield Put on a Show as the Vols Fought Back

In a losing effort, Admiral Schofield put on a show and without him, Tennessee isn’t even in the game. He got the Vols back in the game with three shots beyond the arc. They went on a 25-5 run to take a 441-38 lead in the game.

Schofield ended with game with 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting and 4-for-9 from the three-point line. He also added ten rebounds which led the team.

3. Tennessee is Still Fine

Look Vol fans, Tennessee basketball is still okay. They are 5-1 in their last six games, and truthfully, it’s hard to beat a team as good as Kentucky three times in the same season.

In fact, maybe it was a good thing the Vols lost. They were riding a three-game winning streak, and a win would have made seven in a row heading into the NCAA Tournament. To win the National Championship that would have been 13 wins in a row.

The last time a conference tournament champion won the NCAA Championship and didn’t have to have it vacated was 2011, when the UCONN Huskies won the Big East Tournament championship. When you factor in titles that weren’t vacated, the Louisville Cardinals are the last team to do it, and that was in 2013.

So the last four national champions did not win their conference tournament. That puts Tennessee basketball in good company for now. There’s no need to worry.