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

By Caleb Calhoun

CINCINNATI, OH - DECEMBER 18: Yves Pons #35 of the Tennessee Volunteers tries to gather a loose ball against Keith Williams #2 and Mika Adams-Woods #3 of the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first half of the game at Fifth Third Arena on December 18, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH - DECEMBER 18: Yves Pons #35 of the Tennessee Volunteers tries to gather a loose ball against Keith Williams #2 and Mika Adams-Woods #3 of the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first half of the game at Fifth Third Arena on December 18, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images /

Fundamentals

Shooting: C+

  • Three-point shooting: D-

Lamonte Turner only took one attempt this time, but everybody else continues to be off, most notably Jordan Bowden. He and Josiah-Jordan James each went one-for-five while Yves Pons went one-for-three.

  • Midrange shooting: B-

If you take out the three-point shooting, Tennessee basketball shot 20-of-36. That’s not so bad, and it was due to their ability to be aggressive inside and also shoot well from 15 feet out.

  • Free throw shooting: A+

The biggest reason that offense wasn’t much of a problem Wednesday was due to this. UT got to the foul line and hit all 17 of its free throw attempts. That’s why, with a bad outside shooting night, Lamonte Turner, Jordan Bowden and Yves Pons still all managed to hit double-figures.

Rebounding: D+

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  • Offensive rebounding: C

They got six offensive rebounds, but John Fulkerson, Yves Pons could have done more. Olivier Nkamhoua and Drew Pember didn’t help much off the bench either.

  • Defensive rebounding: D-

This is why the Vols were outrebounded 32-21. Their lack of size finally began to show, as they could not hang with Cincinnati’s bigs. Part of this was allowing Cincinnati to make to many shots, but the Vols also allowed 11 offensive rebounds.

Defense: D

  • Perimeter defense: C

To be fair, they had 10 steals and forced 15 turnovers. Part of that was John Fulkerson doing a decent job at times to deny the paint. But he had no help, and there’s a reason four guards scored in double figures for the night. Let’s also not forget the Lamonte Turner technical for flopping.

  • Interior defense: F

When Fulkerson was down low, Yves Pons was failing to deny the paint. And when Pons failed to deny the paint, Fulkerson got abused underneath the basket. Cincinnati was only five-of-15 shooting from three, but they continued to dominate in the paint and from the midrange. This was by far the worst part of the game for the Vols.

Ball movement: C+

Again, it was only defense and rebounding. The fundamentals most other places, outside of outside shooting, were not too bad, and this was one of them. Lamonte Turner struggled as the point guard, which is why this is only a B+. But while 14 turnovers isn’t great, it’s not terrible. The problem was 13 assists, and that’s largely due to not being able to score.

Coaching: C+

Rick Barnes deserves some blame for the lapses on defense and that Lamonte Turner flop-technical. Also, he didn’t allow Davonte Gaines to play enough. Gaines was playing well, so he should have had the chance to stand out.

Next. Vol fans' 2019-2020 bowl game rooting guide. dark

Overall fundamentals grade: C

Horrible defense and rebounding complemented Tennessee basketball’s poor outside shooting in this one. Mediocre ball movement didn’t help matters. But the offense was still fine thanks to great free throw shooting and other little things. Defense drug down the fundamentals here.

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