Tennessee basketball 2019-2020 season recap: Vols five most painful losses

5. Florida State Seminoles (Emerald Coast Classic)

Tennessee loses 60-57

Friday, Nov. 29, 2020

There’s actually no shame in this loss. The problem is it cost Tennessee basketball a chance at another quality win if you look at the way the season unfolded. At the time, the Vols were undefeated, and they had already scored a quality win, or what seemed like one, over the Washington Huskies in Canada. But this was a much tougher test.

The Vols fell behind by 13 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half. They mounted a furious comeback, though, and cut it to three with a minute left. However, they allowed an offensive rebound and committed a late turnover, which cost them as they lost by three. FSU finished as a top five team in the RPI, so this wasn’t a bad loss, but it was heartbreaking.

Lamonte Turner was the scoring machine for the Vols, as he came away with 20 points. However, he had lots of issues, including shooting four-of-14 from the field and committing eight turnovers with only one assist. Meanwhile, John Fulkerson, the one threat for the Vols in the paint, fouled out and only finished with two points.

Yves Pons had a solid game, with 13 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. He was probably the most complete player on the court, and you could say he wasn’t aggressive enough. Jordan Bowden had 11 points but also struggled from the field, hitting three-of-10 shots. UT fought hard given all these issues, and if just one player’s shot was falling, this would have been a win.