Tennessee basketball was seemingly in control of its matchup against Kansas until the final ten minutes of the game. The Jayhawks stormed back in the second half, beating the Vols 81-74.
That loss results in Tennessee finishing fourth in the Players' Era Championship in Las Vegas and marks the Vols' first loss of the season.
Tennessee held at least an eight-point lead throughout most of the first eight minutes of the second half, but that didn't matter. Kansas pieced together a couple of runs, and the Tennessee offense went quiet, going scoreless throughout nearly half of the final 20 minutes in the game.
Tennessee shot 41% from the field, but that doesn't tell the full story. The Vols struggled down the stretch, dropping their three-point shooting percentage to a lackluster 28% for the game.
Kansas outshot and outrebounded the ball, beating Tennessee at its own game in the final minutes of this game. The Jayhawks forced the Vols to keep the ball around the perimeter, leading to a couple of big shooting droughts in the second half.
Freshman Nate Ament led the Vols in scoring with 20 points on 33% shooting from the field. Ja'Kobi Gillespie, who has been a big part of Tennessee's offense, scored only 11 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
If the Vols can become more consistent in their shooting with their guards, the forwards have shown they can be big contributors on both ends of the court.
Between Felix Okpara, Cade Phillips, J.P. Estrella, and Jaylen Carey, the Vols have plenty of options down low, and more often than not, the Vols can rely on two or three to come up with consistent performances.
Tennessee started strong in Vegas, but over these three days, the offense continued to drop in efficiency and performance. That will be a talking point for the Vols as they have plans to make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
If Rick Barnes wants to get back to the Final Four, it's going to take a much more consistent performance on the offensive end of the court.
Tennessee will now take a few days to rest before another big Power Four matchup. The Vols will head to New York to face the Syracuse Orange in the ACC/SEC Challenge on December 2.