Tennessee basketball: Ranking Vols by importance in NCAA Tournament

Tier 2: Scoring specialists

5. Jordan Bowden

The only way Tennessee basketball can win without Kyle Alexander is if their scoring specialists are hitting their three-pointers. Jordan Bowden is probably the most pure shooting guard on the team. He doesn’t play point, and his focus is totally about scoring.

That obviously explains his 10.5 points per game and his 37 percent three-point shooting. Bowden’s focus is stretching the floor to take pressure off the inside players, and the Vols will need him to do that if they are going to win anything this year.

Last year, Bowden was a starter most of the time, but he’s been a mark of consistency at times when he’s come off the bench this season. In fact, he’s been a starter and come off the bench at different times. That flexibility is an asset.

4. Lamonte Turner

This year, Jordan Bowden has been a lot more consistent than Lamonte Turner. However, Turner still is ahead of Bowden for a couple of reasons: he is the guard the Vols would rely on to take the last shot, and he also is a combo guard.

With his role as more of a distributor at times, Turner has got to come through for the Vols if they are going to make any run in the NCAA Tournament. His three-point percentage dropped to 30.8 this year, but he’s still averaging 10.6 points per game.

Turner is also able to come through defensively more often than most players, and, again, he’s very clutch. This team wins when either Bowden or Turner is consistently hitting from outside. If one gets red-hot, it’s over. But the Vols always need one of them.