Tennessee basketball: Turner and Bowden are the keys to an undefeated SEC run

Tennessee basketball opened SEC play with a 2-0 record. Lamonte Turner and Jordan Bowden are keys to an undefeated SEC run.

Okay, I’ll admit maybe this is a reach. The Tennessee basketball team is only two games into an 18-game conference schedule, but they are really good.

In the first two games against the Georgia Bulldogs and Missouri Tigers, the Vols have a winning margin of 35 points. Now, sure you can argue that Georiga and Missouri aren’t the best of the league, but it’s still impressive nonetheless.

Is going unbeaten in SEC play realistic?

The last time a team was able to accomplish that feat was in 2014-15 when the Kentucky Wildcats went 18-0 with only a handful of games decided by five points or less. Surprising the Florida Gators went undefeated just the year before by finishing the season with a 36-3 record and a Final Four Appearance.

So, as you can see it can happen, and the Vols are the type of team to make that run. They are built like those older San Antonio Spurs teams, who dominated the competition by sharing the basketball and not making many mistakes.

Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield are some of the best players in the nation and lead the SEC in scoring. Williams is averaging 18.8 points per game while grabbing 7.8 rebounds. Schofield has taken his game to another level averaging 18.0 points a game and shooting around 45 percent from the three-point line.

Then, there is Jordan Bone who is playing some of the best basketball of any player in the entire nation. Not only has he developed into a scoring threat (14.2 ppg), only missing the double figures mark twice this season, but he is running the offense better than he ever has before. He has the third-most assists in the SEC with 88 and the second-best assist-to-turnover in the league.

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As important as all those players are to the success of the team, and we can’t forget about Kyle Alexander who is having a monster season, Lamonte Turner and Jordan Bowden are the keys to an undefeated SEC run.

Earlier in the season, Rick Barnes caught most of us off guard by changing the starting lineup, one that was consistent for most of last year. However, it appeared to work and work well. Turner was out with a shoulder injury, so the Vols were struggling to find points off the bench. It only made sense for Barnes to move Bowden, a dynamic scorer, to the bench to fill that gap of not having last season’s SEC Sixth Man of the Year.

As the season progressed, it appeared Bowden started to settle into the role of scorer off the bench. If you think about it, it made perfect sense he was starting to shine. Sure, he still played with the “starters” but the majority of his playing time he wasn’t sharing the ball with the other best scorers on the team. One of the big questions most fans was asking/thinking was how would Bowden and Turner gel coming off the bench together? The answer so far in two games is actually quite well.

Keep in mind Turner is still working to get his legs back, but the two players have combined for 55 points in two games and have gone a perfect 11-of-11 from the free-throw line. What’s impressive is they aren’t shooting the three-point shot well going just 4-of-15. Furthermore, the two players have only committed four turnovers in 93 minutes of action.

Early in the game against Missouri, the Vols found themselves losing by their largest deficit of the season. However, the second-team went on a 10-0 that began a 32-12 run to end the half, which had a lot to do with Turner and Bowden providing a spark. Grant Williams ended up only scoring four points, and Tennessee won by 24 points, that should tell how deep the Vols are.

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Of course, Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield are as important as ever to win the SEC, but Lamonte Turner and Jordan Bowden are equally valuable. If both players can continue to gel in their roles, they would easily be considered the best duo coming off the bench, and it could mean an unbeaten run in the SEC.

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