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Tennessee basketball: Three takeaways from Vols season-opening win vs. UNC Asheville

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 21: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the game against the Connecticut Huskies at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 21, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Connecticut 60-57. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 21: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the game against the Connecticut Huskies at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 21, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Connecticut 60-57. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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With a new look, Tennessee basketball beat the UNC Asheville Bulldogs to open the 2019-2020 year. Here is what we learned from the Volunteers’ victory.

Lamonte Turner scored 17 points and had six assists, Yves Pons and Jalen Johnson had career highs of 15 and eight points respectively, and four players had double-figures to lead Tennessee basketball to its season-opening win over the UNC Asheville Bulldogs. Rick Barnes’s fifth team led by 25 at one point but only finished with a 78-63 win.

Barnes used the same starting lineup he had in last week’s exhibition game after the NCAA denied the eligibility waiver for Uros Plavsic, with John Fulkerson playing center and then four guards on the court. Those guards were Turner, Pons, Jordan Bowden and Josiah-Jordan James.

Meanwhile, Johnson and two freshmen, Olivier Nkamhoua and Davonte Gaines, were the three players who saw action off the bench. They all saw significant minutes as well. Here are three takeaways from Tennessee basketball’s season-opening victory.

Point guard play needs work.

Lamonte Turner may have led the team in scoring, and he did have six assists. But his transition to combo guard still repeats issues he had last year, and that’s being too aggressive. Turner still had six turnovers and was two-for-eight from the three-point line. He was also an abysmal one-of-five from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, five-star combo guard Josiah-Jordan James had a rough start. He only scored two points, and he had three turnovers to two assists. James will spell Turner at the point this year, so both guys have to get much better.

This is another Rick Barnes team that can have really bad, long periods.

Last year, Tennessee basketball had one of its best teams in history, and the Vols were still notorious for having really long, bad stretches. Well, that showed again in this game on multiple fronts, and it’s something they can’t afford this year.

The most notable one was at the end. The Vols had a 76-51 lead with under four minutes to go, but they were outscored 12-2 to close things out. They also allowed UNC Asheville to turn a 14-point lead for the Vols with two minutes to go in the first half into only an eight-point lead going into halftime. So this team looks like it can collapse very quickly.

Returning role players showed major development.

Rick Barnes will go small all year, but John Fulkerson had more competition this week with 6’9″ Coty Jude on him. He still managed to have nearly a double-double, putting up 10 points and nine rebounds. Meanwhile, Jalen Johnson came off the bench and had eight points, hitting two three-pointers in the process.

But the breakout guy was Yves Pons. Barnes is clearly going to need him to take a major step this year, and he had 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks on the night along with two assists. Oh, and he had a steal and hit a three-pointer while having no turnovers. So all these returning role players took a step forward, but Pons looked like a rising star.

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