I’ve watched Tennessee basketball for decades. Off the top of my head, I can’t recall a more disappointing performance under the circumstances than what the Tennessee Volunteers put forth on Friday afternoon. Tennessee fell to Mississippi State 73-56 in the SEC quarterfinals in a game that was effectively over late in the first half.
The Vols opened up down 7-4 after Dalton Knecht hit a jumper a little over 2 minutes into the game. They wouldn’t put another point on the board until after the under 12-minute timeout break. A truly staggering stretch of futility that saw the Vols clang shot after shot – largely beyond the arc – and stumble around like a Benny Hill skit with the basketball going the other way in Mississippi State players’ hands. By the time the half was over – which ended on a steal and a dunk by State’s Shawn Jones, Jr. – the Vols were down by 19, and it was all over but the shouting. An abysmal and unacceptable 2 of 17 from beyond the arc in the first half. The Vols couldn’t have thrown it in the ocean while standing in the surf.
Tennessee tried to make a run in the second half, opening on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 12. Unfortunately, what needed to become an extended run turned into a short one, as State responded and pushed the lead up to 20, where they kept it for much of the rest of the game. Tennessee made one final run to cut it to 60-48, but a quick three from D.J. Jeffries ended all that.
Knecht had a game to forget, scoring 14 points on an ice-cold 4 of 17 from the field. Zakai Zeigler led the Vols with 20 points but had a bad game as a distributor with 4 turnovers to just 2 assists. Key contributors Jonas Aidoo and Josiah-Jordan James were non-factors on the offensive end. Aidoo had 5 points with 10 rebounds and 2 turnovers and struggled against State’s physical post players. James put up a goose egg on the scoreboard on 0 for 5 shooting.
The Vols’ loss kills any shot at a 1 seed now. Tennessee is likely destined for a 2 seed. But 1 seed or 2, if Tennessee doesn’t find a way to play any better than this, they won’t have to worry about where they’re sent for the Sweet 16. They won’t get out of the first weekend.
Rick Barnes had better figure out how to fix things, because it would be one of the biggest disappointments in Tennessee history (of which there are so many) for a team this talented to find its season over by the end of next weekend. After today, nothing would surprise me, unfortunately.