Tennessee Basketball: Two takeaways from Vols’ 63-68 loss at Texas A&M

The Vols got handed a loss on the road on Tuesday against the Aggies by a score of 63-68. 

Tennessee basketball got off to a quick start in the matchup, but struggled shooting in the second half and ultimately let the Aggies pull off the upset victory.

Tennessee basketball got into foul trouble early

I feel like a broken record saying this after every game but they continue to do it. Texas A&M was in the bonus for the last 12 minutes of the second half, which isn’t the recipe for success. They let the Aggies go to the foul line 34 times in the loss, while they could only get to the charity stripe 14 times.

Here’s what head coach Rick Barnes had to say related to the foul trouble in the post-game interview:

"“… We fought. I’ll tell you what I told the team. We’ve just got to stop fouling 3-point shooters. We keep talking about it, talking about it, talking about it. We have a competitive group of guys, but they’ve got to understand they’re not going to keep players from getting the shot off. Plays like that have to stop. I mean, we gave them five points right there. And they’re a team that gets to the foul line anyway. We’ve got to stop making those plays. We’ve talked about it, talked about it, talked about it. We’ve got to stop.”"

I truly do believe in this Tennessee basketball team, and if they can figure out how to eliminate the foul trouble they consistently get themselves into, they will go on a run in March. It’s much easier said than done, but I have faith in Rick Barnes and his troops.

Inconsistency is becoming a major issue

The Vols have been up and down all season. They are currently 20-8, and 6 of the 8 have been unranked teams. The Vols have been up as high as No. 2 but fell off from there as soon as they got ranked that high.

The only two ranked teams that Tennessee basketball has lost to was at Arizona much earlier in the season, and Texas A&M on Tuesday. Every other loss was to an inferior, unranked team. If the Vols were consistent all year, they could quite honestly be 26-1 right now. However, these games ultimately don’t matter, it only matters in March.

It’s clear that Tennessee can beat anyone, but they can also lose to anyone. I just wonder what animal is going to show up in the tournament. Will we see the Vols that knocked off the No. 1 ranked Alabama? Or, will we see the Vols that lose to teams they should be beating?