Tennessee basketball: Colgate about shot the Vols out of the NCAA Tournament

It turned out a little closer than most fans might have wanted, but the Tennessee basketball team is moving on. Here are three takeaways from the game.

The Tennessee basketball team took a 12-point lead into halftime. For most of the first 20 minutes the Vols controlled the game. However, it wasn’t always pretty; in fact, it was sluggish at times.

The Vols got off to a 9-0 start with a quick bucket from Admiral Schofield followed by a three-point jumper from Lamonte Turner, he’s got his swagger back, well, maybe. Schofield then added another easy basket around the rim, and the lead was almost to double digits in two minutes.

However, within six minutes Colgate crawled back into the game with a couple of three-point jumpers. There were a few possessions where the Vols lost position on defensive rotations and left wide open three-point shots to a team that ranks top-10 in three-point percentage. Colgate nailed six long-range jumpers shooting 50 percent from deep in the first half.

Lamonte Turner and Jordan Bowden led things for the Vols scoring ten points apiece on 8-for-14 from the floor, including 4-for-9 from the three-point line.

Tennessee started the second half a bit sluggish, again. Colgate came out on fire scoring 14 points in five points thanks to a couple of three-point jumpers from Jordan Burns who shot lights out.

The rest of the second half, the Vols were in for a fight, and Colgate wasn’t backing down. With 12 minutes left in the contest, the Raiders got their first lead of the game thanks to Tucker Richardson nailing two free throws.

1. Tennessee’s second-half performance was TRASH

Most of Tennessee’s second-half performance was absolute trash. The Vols were allowing Colgate to get whatever they wanted to climb back into the game. To start the half, Tennessee was outscored 19-6.

Something we’ve talked about a lot this season is how Tennessee continues to  settle for the long-range jumper. Give credit to Colgate for forcing the outside shot, but if your Barnes and the Vols you have to get Grant Williams touches more often.

Once Tennessee started running their offense, they pulled away, but it still wasn’t pretty. It honestly felt that the Vols could get whatever they wanted at the rim, but they took 26 three-point jumpers instead.

Admiral Schofield was clutch hitting three deep jumpers in the last four minutes of the game, but none were great looks. Schofield finished the game 3-for-7 from deep which helped Tennessee pull out the close win.

2. Jordan Bowden played the way the Vols needed

What would that game have looked like without Jordan Bowden? Probably a first-round loss and one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament. One of our keys for Tennessee to have success this postseason was get Bowden going. Or at least have him score 12 points. The Vols move to 14-1 on the season when the junior guards scores at least 12.

Bowden finished the game with 14 points on 6-for-10 from the floor, including 2-for-6 from the three-point line. He added four rebounds with two steals, one led to a monstrous dunk, and one block.

3. Colgate ran great offense with their best player on the bench

Sure, the shooting for Colgate was impressive but how they got the shots stood out to me. Colgate ran their offense to perfection and got wide open looks from the three-point line, which is where they shoot a near 40 percent on the season.

The Vols didn’t change what they were doing. They kept allowing Kyle Alexander to get matched up with a quicker guard that knew where to go on the floor. Oh, and then there was this guy named Jordan Burns, who can shoot the basketball.

Burns scored a game-high 32 points. Another key to success that we mentioned and the Vols failed to stop. The sophomore guard shot 12-for-20 from the floor, including 8-for-13 from the three-point line.

In the end, a win is a win, but it wasn’t pretty. It could be another early exit in back-to-back NCAA tournaments if they don’t straighten it up. The Vols are back in action on Sunday; time to be determined.