View from 315A

The best season in Tennessee basketball history (31-5) ended on Thursday night in Charlotte with a 79-60 loss to Louisville. The game ended in a humiliating series of dunks. It was only the second time Tennessee had been beaten by more than six points all year (November 24-Texas). Just a month ago, the Vols were #1 in the nation.

The Vols ran into a hot team. Louisville won for the 12th time in 14 games. The Cardinals won their first three games in the NCAA Tournament by an average margin of 22.3 points, and the closest anybody has come is 18 points. Nobody has scored more than 61 points against them in three tournament games, and they've held their last two opponents to less than 34 percent shooting from the field.

Louisville led for the majority of the game, maintaining a lead from 9-7. When Bruce Pearl called time out with 8:58 left in the first half, the Vols were already down 24-8. The Vols cut the lead to one in the second half (36-37), but never regained the lead.

Louisville made 66.7 percent of its shots in the second half and 52 percent for the game. Six Louisville players scored 9 or more points. Sophomore Earl Clark led Louisville with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Lousville put Tennessee’s point guards in a position to make plays, which they were unable to do. J.P. Prince, in only his second game as the staring point guard, committed twice as many assists as turnovers. Ramar Smith shot horribly, 2-9 form the field and 2-7 from the line. Senior Jordan Howell did not play in his final college game. The decision to switch horses in midstream was a calculated risk that did not pay off.

Tennessee shot just 33.9% and was even worse on 3-point shooting, making just 5 of 20. Wayne Chism (3 of 4) was the only Vol who shot over 50% in the game. The Vols connected on only 11-of-58 3-point attempts (19%) in the tournament.

Senior Chris Lofton closed his career with 15 points, but hitting on just three of 15 attempts and an abysmal 2 of 11 from three-point range. Many of Lofton’s shots were blocked. Lofton typically rose against teams from his native Kentucky who neglected to recruit him, but not on this day. He finishes his career third all-time with 431 three-point shots made.

Foul trouble hindered the Vols as well. Wayne Chism collected two fouls in the first 1:45 of the game, forcing Ryan Childress (3 minutes) and Steven Pearl (2 minutes) into rare first half action. Tyler Smith picked up his fourth foul with 12:43 left in the game.

Tennessee also got very little support off of the bench. Louisville outscored Tennessee 28-11 off in bench points.

The Vols rebounding woes also continued, getting dominated 42-24 on the glass. Louisville had 34 defensive rebounds leaving the Vols just four second-chance points. Earl Clark had twelve rebounds while Terrence Williams and David Padgett had eight rebounds each. Tennessee’s leader (guard JaJuan Smith) had only six.

Twenty Louisville turnovers kept Tennessee in the game.

Louisville, know for its three-point shooting, hit only four and none (on two attempts) in the second half.

Will this loss affect the team’s legacy? I hope not, but honestly believe it will. Advancing one more round, even losing to UNC, would have been memorable. The best team in school history did not advance further than any other Vol team. As in all three Pearl years, Tennessee peaked early.

The season will be remembered for what might have been. JaJuan Smith lamented, “The energy and all was there. That part was 'A' and I would have been more upset if that wasn't the case. We just didn't play well. We never really put it all together for a game all season. For a half against Florida, we might have played our best, but we never played our best all year from start to finish.'”

Some random game thoughts:

• Louisville and North Carolina were supposed to meet earlier this season, but the banged-up Cardinals were upset by Brigham Young in a November tournament, spoiling the potential matchup of traditional powers. The two now meet in the regional finals on Saturday.
  
• Louisville coach Rick Pitino has won fourteen consecutive games over Tennessee, dating to his time at Kentucky.
  
• Pitino is now 8-0 in regional semifinal games.
  
• Louisville is 5-1 against Top 25 teams this season.
  
• Bruce Pearl squelched rumors that he planned to leave Tennessee after the game. He has been linked to an opening at Indiana.
  
• Tyler Smith will meet with Pearl to discuss his prospects in the upcoming NBA draft. He is a 23-year old sophomore from Pulaski,TN.