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Tennessee basketball: Three takeaways from Vols 72-43 win vs. Florida A&M

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 2: Dunk from Yves Pons #35 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half of their game against the Texas A&M-CC Islanders at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 2, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 2: Dunk from Yves Pons #35 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half of their game against the Texas A&M-CC Islanders at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 2, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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In their first game back from the Emerald Coast Classic, Tennessee basketball dominated the Rattlers. Here are three things we learned about the Volunteers.

After finishing third at the Emerald Coast Classic to remain in the top 25 this week, Tennessee basketball returned home for a dominant win Wednesday night. The Vols beat the winless Florida A&M Rattlers 72-43.

Ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll and No. 20 in the Coaches Poll, UT did trail 3-2 nearly two minutes in. But then they reeled off a 14-0 run to dominate the rest of the way, taking a 39-18 lead into halftime. Rick Barnes was able to go 11-deep in the game because of how much Rocky Top dominated the game.

With the win, the Vols moved to 7-1 on the year, while Florida A&M fell to 0-7 with four losses coming on the road to Power Five teams. Barnes’s team is off for 10 days now before hosting the Memphis Tigers on Saturday, Dec. 14. Here are three things we learned from Tennessee basketball’s victory over Florida A&M.

1. It was a night for the freshmen.

Take it with a grain of salt, as they were facing a winless team. But the Vols did finally get double-figures from Josiah-Jordan James, who had 10 points. And he wasn’t the only one. Olivier Nkamhoua was actually the star with a double-double, 11 points and 13 rebounds off the bench. Meanwhile, Davonte Gaines made a splash too with seven points and four rebounds.

2. Aggression in the paint overcome poor shooting.

In this game, Tennessee basketball only made three three-pointers on 16 attempts. It was an off-night. But they managed 72 points because they went inside a lot. John Fulkerson added 15 points inside,  and altogether they hit 21 of 28 free throws. This is why Lamonte Turner thrived again with 10 points and six assists. Yves Pons even hit six of eight free throws en route to 14 points.

3. Defense and rebounding never fails.

Another way to overcome poor shooting is aggressive defense. The Vols forced 20 turnovers and held the Rattlers to 35.6 percent shooting. Then they won the rebounding battle 43-26. Again, take what you will from that against a winless team, but the fact of the matter is they continue to do little things to overcome shooting disadvantages. That’s a testament to Barnes’s coaching.

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