Tennessee basketball: Three takeaways from Vols’ 65-54 win vs. Florida
John Fulkerson and Yves Pons were sent out in style on Senior Day Sunday, as Tennessee basketball overcame a 14-point first half deficit to beat the Florida Gators 65-54. The Vols avenged a 75-49 loss at Florida from back in January and clinched a top four seed in the SEC Tournament with the win.
In their first outing since a 77-72 loss to the Auburn Tigers two Saturdays ago, the Vols looked rusty early. However, down 31-17, they closed out the first half on an 11-2 run. Then, down 39-32 in the second half, they went on a 15-2 run to take the lead for good. Florida played without leading scorer Tre Mann, who was suffering a migraine.
Rick Barnes’ team finished the regular season 17-7 and 10-7 in the SEC. Their next game will be Friday. Mike White’s team, meanwhile, finished the regular season 14-7 and 9-7 in the SEC. Here are three things we learned from Tennessee basketball’s win.
1. Seniors went out with a bang by dominating inside.
Throughout the year, John Fulkerson and Yves Pons have struggled to play as consistently as they played down the stretch of last year. That wasn’t the case Sunday, as the inside was where the Vols dominated. They outrebounded the Gators 38-29 and got 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a steal from Fulkerson.
Pons only had five points, but he cleaned up everywhere else, finishing with two steals, a block and eight rebounds, an amazing six of which were offensive rebounds. Josiah-Jordan James was dominant off the bench all-around defensively, but he also helped inside, coming away with 10 rebounds, five of which were offensive, and a block. He also had a steal and an assist.
2. Neither team shot the ball well from outside.
Honestly, Tennessee basketball was somewhat lucky on this one. The Florida Gators were an abysmal 3-of-13, or 23.1 percent, from the three-point line. That bailed out the Vols, who were 3-of-21, or 14.3 percent from the field. This was why Tre Mann may not have made much of a difference, as he’s not a great three-point shooter anyway, and it’s what cost Florida.
Free throw shooting was even worse. At one point late in the second half, both teams were 50 percent from the line. Florida finished 11-of-18, or 61.1 percent, while UT finished 8-of-13, or 61.5 percent. One red-hot shooting afternoon by either team would have made this game a blowout in that team’s favor.
3. The mid-range game was back.
Although they struggled to shoot from the outside, Barnes kept his team committed to the mid-range during the off-week, and it finally paid off. That combined with an elite inside game allowed the Vols to shoot 24-of-41 on two-pointers. UT also scored well in transition. Simply put, despite struggling from three, the shot selection was much better.
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Keon Johnson scored 14 points while going 7-of-11 from the field, all two-pointers. Victor Bailey Jr. hit two three-pointers but was 3-of-4 on two-pointers, also scoring 14 points. James hit one three-pointer but had eight points. This helped Tennessee basketball overcome poor shooting from Pons, Santiago Vescovi and Jaden Springer, who were a combined 0-for-9 from outside.