Tennessee Vols morning report: Basketball in top 25, Jordan Bowden recognized
The Tennessee Vols men’s and women’s basketball teams getting back into the AP top 25 rankings leads our Volunteers news for Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019.
What is clearly the busiest time of the year for the Tennessee Vols program has kicked into high gear. All three major sports have storylines. Football is trying to get to a bowl game. Men’s basketball and women’s basketball, meanwhile, have cracked the rankings.
Our morning update on Rocky Top involves all of them. We’ll look at where the basketball programs are ranked, but we’ll also break down what all of the coaches said on Monday during their media sessions.
Meanwhile, a specific individual earned recognition in men’s basketball as well, so we’ll have to bring that up. But let’s start with the rankings and our analysis of the things all the coaches said to begin this week.
Men’s basketball makes both polls – Mike Wilson, Knoxville News Sentinel
After being unranked in the AP Poll to start the season and just barely in the Coaches Poll, the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team has moved up in both. They made it to No. 20 in the AP Poll Monday after an impressive 3-0 start to the season.
"UT received the third-most votes among unranked teams in the preseason poll, but has started well. The Vols beat UNC Asheville and Murray State to open the season before an impressive 75-62 win against Washington, which was ranked No. 20 in the AP poll. The Vols moved up eight spots in the USA TODAY coaches poll from No. 25 preseason to No. 17 for the first in-season poll."
Women’s basketball ranked – WVLT
Don’t look now, but the Tennessee Lady Vols are getting some national recognition under first-year head coach Kellie Harper. Their red-hot start now has them ranked in the AP Poll.
"On Monday, the Lady Vols climbed to 23 in the AP poll following a statement win over then-no. 15 Notre Dame. The Lady Vols are currently 4-0 following their win against TSU on November 14."
Jeremy Pruitt kicks off Missouri week – Dan Harralson, VolsWire.com
Following the Tennessee Vols football bye week, Jeremy Pruitt took the podium Monday to prepare for the Missouri Tigers. Pruitt noted that there is still no quarterback set in stone to start, and he said this is the healthiest the team has been all year. However, Baylen Buchanan will indeed not play this season. Here’s a bit of what else he said.
"“When you look at Missouri, they’re a team that is 5-1 at home. They lost this past weekend; the game was really close against Florida and a couple of things didn’t go their way down the stretch. They’re a team that’s really kind of dominated this series in the past, so it’ll be a good opportunity for our guys to go on the road and play a good football team that’s very well-coached.”"
Rick Barnes speaks Monday after Washington win – Grant Ramey, GoVols247
Following Tennessee basketball’s win over the Washington Huskies to crack the top 25 of both polls, Rick Barnes met with the media again on Monday. One of the notable things he talked about was the fact that Lamonte Turner’s shoulder is bothering him again, which could have something to do with his slow start. Here’s a bit of what else he said.
"“You know, we know we still have to get better defensively. Our transition defense was terrible. And maybe, going back to what we discussed a minute ago about our bench, I think you could tell in transition, guys were just casually saying, ‘Get my man,’ as opposed to working to theirs, and maybe fatigue had a little bit to do with that.”"
Kellie Harper speaks ahead of next matchup – UTSports
Tuesday night will mark the Tennessee women’s basketball program’s first game played as a ranked team under head coach Kellie Harper. They will host the Stetson Hatters at 7 p.m. Harper talked about her 4-0 team with the media Monday. Here’s a bit of what she said.
"“We are probably where I thought we would be. The Notre Dame game was a little bit of a question mark for me, just because I didn’t know with that atmosphere, that environment, that quality of team, how we were going to respond. That was a really good positive for us. I didn’t think we came out of it great. I thought we weren’t as sharp in our next game, so hopefully we can use that as a learning experience and we can do better. But in terms of where we are, I think we are where I expected this team to be at this point.”"
Jordan Bowden named SEC Player of the Week – SECSports
After impressive performances against the Murray State Racers and Washington Huskies, Tennessee basketball senior guard Jordwn Bowden was named the men’s basketball SEC Player of the Week. He earned the honor after averaging 22 points in those two games, shooting 50 percent from the field and going 69 percent from three.
"Bowden poured in a career-high 26 points against Murray State, draining six of his eight attempts from behind the 3-point arc. On Saturday against Washington in Toronto, Bowden started hot, scoring 15 of his 18 points in the first half. His performance on Saturday leaves him with 995 career points, just five points shy of joining Tennessee’s elite 1,000-point club."