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Tennessee basketball: Three takeaways from Vols’ 65-61 win vs. Vanderbilt

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 31: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers shoots a layup during the game between the Tusculum Pioneers and the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on October 31, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 31: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers shoots a layup during the game between the Tusculum Pioneers and the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on October 31, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Against their last easy opponent, Tennessee basketball had to hold off the Vandy Commodores. Here are three things we learned from the Volunteers’ victory.

It wasn’t pretty, but Tennessee basketball was able to score a close win over the Vanderbilt Commodores Tuesday night. After a tie game at halftime and a couple of bad runs early in the second half, the Vols eventually pulled away and then held on for a 65-61 win.

In the process, Rick Barnes’ team improved to 15-11 and 7-6 in SEC, while Jerry Stackhouse’s team fell to 9-17 and 1-12 in the SEC. Rocky Top won this game after a late collapse against the South Carolina Gamecocks this past Saturday.

UT now has a brutal stretch to end the season, as they face five games against top 50 RPI teams and three against top 25 teams, including the Auburn Tigers twice and at the Kentucky Wildcats. Here are three takeaways from Tennessee basketball’s Tuesday victory.

1. Jordan Bowden and John Fulkerson finally returned to form.

These two were the reason for the Vols’ win. Vanderbilt got on a run early in the second half and built a five-point lead, and that’s when John Fulkerson took over. Fulky finished the night with 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, helping UT get seven on the night. He also overcame his issues from Saturday, as he hit nine-of-11 free throws and had only two turnovers.

Meanwhile, Jordan Bowden closed things out late. He also had 17 points, and they came about in numerous ways, including hitting two-of-five three-point attempts, scoring twice in the paint and nailing all seven free throw attempts. So he was aggressive, efficient, and most importantly, clutch, as he hit both free throws with five seconds left to secure the game.

2. Ball movement was awful at times.

Santiago Vescovi was the third Vol to hit double-figures, scoring 14 points while also getting seven assists. But he was a big reason for Tennessee basketball struggling in the first half and almost collapsing late. Vescovi had six turnovers, and he was a big part of the team overall making terrible passes all night, which is why they had 15 turnovers.

The turnovers offset a solid defensive performance. Rick Barnes openly said at halftime that the play was “pathetic” and accused his players of not respecting the game more due to their horrible passes. These mistakes almost cost them, and it is the second straight outing in which turnovers played an issue, so they have some serious work to do.

3. Late-game collapses are becoming problematic.

This is the second straight game in which the Vols collapsed late. They had a horrible final three minutes at the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, and without that trend, they win. In this one, things were even worse. Vanderbilt trailed 61-48 with just over a minute and a half to go, and they trailed 63-51 with under a minute to go.

Then they trailed 63-53 with 35 seconds to go. Taking that into account, there’s no way it should have gotten down to 65-63 with five seconds. Back to back turnovers when all they had to do was run out the clock was embarrassing, and Barnes has some work to do here. Had the Vols lost this one, it would have been the greatest collapse in basketball history.

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