View from 315A

On Monday night, MPW, ROW, and I attended the Tennessee basketball team’s first exhibition game at Thompson-Boling Arena. The game marked the beginning of Tennessee’s one hundredth season of basketball. The Vols defeated the University of Indianapolis Greyhounds of Division II, 87-73. Paid attendance was 18,378 though far fewer actually attended.

The Vols’ performance showed a lot of room for improvement. The team got off to a slow start, trailing 11-2 before Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl utilized his first timeout. Tennessee’s first lead came on a Tyler Smith dunk with 11:03 remaining in the first half to go up 20-19. The Vols’ lead was accumulated primarily in one spurt. Down 25-24 with seven minutes left in the first half, the Vols went on a 16-3 run that produced a 40-28 lead. The Vols led 46-31 at the half but shot only 42.4 % from the field (14-of-33). They did heat up in the second half , hitting 57.1% on 16-of-28 field goals.

Game notes:

• UIndy coach Stan Gouard played under Bruce Pearl at Southern Indiana.
  
• This marks Tennessee’s first season featuring all Bruce Pearl recruits.
  
• The Vols played shorthanded, without the services of Ryan Childress, Philip Jurick, J.P. Prince, Josh Tabb, and Daniel West.
  
  • Childress is nursing a knee injury.
    
  • Prince sustained a shoulder injury in practice on October 29th. There is still hope that he will be able to play in the season opener on November 15th.
    
  • Tabb was serving a team-level suspension related to academics.
    
  • West was ruled academically ineligible after his standardized test score was flagged by the testing agency, according to two sources close to the situation.
  
  
• Junior College transfer Bobby Maze totaled 10 points, seven assists, and shot 3 of 6 from the floor and connected on all four of his free throw attempts.
  
• Due to the absence of Prince and West, walk-on point guard Michael Hubert played ten minutes. Hubert is from Hendersonville.
  
• The Vols had five players in double-figures, led by Tyler Smith's 14. He also accumulated six rebounds, four assists and a game-high three steals. Smith was named as the preseason SEC Player of the Year.
  
• Scotty Hopson scored 14 points in 28 minutes in his Tennessee debut.
  
• Freshman Emanuel Negedu, wearing Chris Lofton’s #5, had eleven points and six rebounds in only 12 minutes.
  
• Tennessee outrebounded the Greyhounds 40-29, including 15-7 on the offensive glass. Sophomore Brian Williams had a game-high twelve boards.
  
• Redshirt freshman Cameron Tatum scored eight points in fifteen minutes. He was also the Vols’ was the Vols’ “plus-minus” leader at 19. He underwent arthroscopic knee surgery October 10th and has only been practicing since October 27th.
  
• The Vols totaled 17 assists and forced 28 turnovers despite the limited use of the full court press.
  
• Tennessee missed graduated players Lofton and Jajuan Smith’s shooting, hitting just four of 14 from three-point range.
  
• Fans implored UT to take a 3-point shot in the final seconds so that the Vols could score 90 points and they could redeem their game ticket for a free chicken sandwich as part of a promotion.
  
• UT begins the season ranked 13th in the Coaches’ Poll and 14th in the Associated Press Poll. The Vols began practice on October 17th.