Another defensive gem.
The No. 1 team in the land moved to 11-0 on Tuesday night in Knoxville. Tennessee handled Western Carolina, putting their defense on full display once again. The Volunteers held the Catamounts to just 36 points, even after a hot start.
Western Carolina jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead, rattling in three straight three-pointers to get things going. That’s where the fun ended, however. Chaz Lanier and Jordan Gainey got rolling in a hurry for Tennessee, quickly working to take the lead back. Tennessee would only allow six more points to be scored after that nine point burst to start the game.
The Volunteers took a 38-15 lead into the halftime break and they would roll from there.
“I don’t know if I’ve coached in a game where (the opponent) didn’t score a 2-point bucket in the first half, but they came in shooting it,” Rick Barnes said after the game. “I thought (Western Carolina) was really well-coached, had good schemes. It was a major factor in the game. They’re so well coached. They played hard. You’ve got to be impressed with them. Again, from where we were sitting, tough, physical. Really, the first couple of minutes of the game, they were more physical than we were.”
Western Carolina ended up just 15 percent (6-39) from three-point range. They got to the free throw stripe just four times, committing 23 turnovers.
Tennessee was led once again by Chaz Lanier, who scored 19 points. Lanier was 8-19 from the field and 3-7 from deep. Jordan Gainey stayed hot, scoring 17 points on just eight shots from the field. Gainey would add five assists as well.
“Jordan has just gotten so much better in so many different areas but one is his conditioning, but he prepares the way that you would want someone to prepare and he knows that we keep telling him that he can do more than what he’s done and we still believe that,” Barnes said. “That he’ll continue to get better. He does drive the ball well for us. I thought he turned down a couple of shots at tonight that he should have taken.”
Tennessee also got a boost from wing Darlinstone Dubar, who continues to get more comfortable. D-Stone handled 17 minutes on Tuesday, scoring 13 points. He was 5-8 from the field and grabbed a couple of rebounds.
“I think, one, he’s playing the role we want him to play,” Barnes said of Dubar. “He’s getting more comfortable. And I just think over time, as he strings together practices and gets time in more games, I think it’s going to help us. We believe that. And he’ll continue to get himself in better shape. That’s what he needs to do right now.”
Tennessee will have the weekend off and return to action on Monday. The Volunteers will host MTSU in Knoxville, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. ET.