By: Dallas Bowlin
Senior Staff Writer
The All Vol Call in Show
20221118
Although the Vols bounced back with a big win over Florida Gulf Coast, make no mistake about it, Tennessee’s loss to Colorado was brutal. The Vols shot an abysmal 25% from the field, and 27% from behind the arc. Turnovers were a significant factor in Tennessee’s loss as well, many games in the SEC won’t go in UT’s favor if they commit 15 turnovers.
With all of the negatives out of the way, there were some positives to take away. Tennessee took 30 shots from the free throw line and converted on 24 of them for an 80% clip as a team. Last season’s squad shot 71% for the year from the charity stripe, so a nine percent increase has to be seen as a positive.
While guys like Zakai Ziegler, and Santiago Vescovi struggled, Josiah-Jordan James was able to score 15 points on four of eight from behind the arc and grab eight rebounds. After being held out early due to injury precautions, JJJ looks to be fully healthy and ready to go. While Tyreke Key had his troubles from the field, he was able to go 9 of 11 from the free-throw line. Having a guy who can get himself to the line is a major positive as the season goes on.
As far as Tennessee's struggles from deep go, I don’t foresee that being a major issue. Against Gonzaga, the Vols shot 46% on 13 of their 28 attempts. When teams shoot as many threes as Tennessee does, you’re guaranteed to have nights where the ball just doesn’t give you a kid bounce.
It is November, and teams are bound to go through struggles early. The Vols will be fine. Tennessee now sets its sights on Butler Wednesday. With a relatively easy schedule coming up, the Vols should have plenty of time to work on and clean some things up ahead of a December 17 matchup with (14)Arizona.