Tennessee basketball report card: Grading the Vols in 78-66 Cincinnati loss

Starting Guards

Jordan Bowden: B-

He probably had the best game of Tennessee basketball’s guards. Jordan Bowden had an off-night from outside again, going one-for-five from three. But he went three-for-seven elsewhere, hit all four of his free throw attempts and also came away with six assists. So offensively, he made up for an off-night with 13 points. Defense is why we dropped him down to a B-.

Josiah-Jordan James: D+

Josiah-Jordan James played poorly defensively, did not handle point guard duties well and also shot the ball poorly. He only had eight points in the game and barely got to the line, fouling out in the end. Overall, it was a bad game for him. Four rebounds and only one turnover are why we give him a break, but he could have played better.

Lamonte Turner: D+

To be fair to Lamonte Turner, he is still dealing with an injury and even left this game for a bit. And he did have 12 points by making all six of his free throw attempts. But he did not handle point guard duties well either. Turner had four turnovers to only three assists, and his defense was atrocious. Him getting a technical for flopping tells the whole story.

Overall backcourt grade: C-

They weren’t shooting the ball well, but they still found ways to score points on offense. Defensively, however, they struggled severely, and that’s why we have to give them a C- with our backcourt grade. Things have to get better on that end.