Tennessee Vols Shock LSU In Baton Rouge
The State of Tennessee had a cold front come through during the night that left ice and snow in it’s wake, but the Tennessee Vols basketball team heated up Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge. The Vols shot an incredible 69 percent from the floor in the second half to put away the Tigers 78-63. I didn’t see this one coming.
The only game that Tennessee was not in all season came at the hands of LSU in Knoxville a few weeks back. LSU led the Vols by 27 at half in Knoxville and never took the foot off of the gas. Tennessee had just come off of a huge away win at Vanderbilt in overtime, and looked to gain momentum for the rest of the season. Instead, the Vols went 0-5 over the next five games.The Tigers size inside was simply too much for an undersized Tennessee team, and Coach Johnny Jones exploited that as well as anyone has all season in that game.
But Tennessee turned the tables on the Tigers in Baton Rouge and finished the road portion of their SEC schedule 5-4 on the season. Tennessee got off to a good start and had LSU tied at 33 at the half. The smaller Vols battled inside with the bigs of LSU and Armani Moore and Derek Reese were rebounding machines the entire game.
The Vols actually out-rebounded LSU 35-29 on the night, and pulled down 13 offensive rebounds which led to second shot points. That is something Tennessee has had problems with all season. Josh Richardson had a great night. As we have seen this season, Tennessee goes as Richardson goes. Richardson scored 20 points on 9-15 shooting, including only 2-7 from behind the arc.
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Armani Moore contributed his best game of the season. Moore in my mind is Tennessee’s most valuable player as he is playing night in and night out against guys inside that are 6″ taller and 50 pounds heavier. Moore came to Tennessee as a point guard, but is banging inside nightly now by necessity. Moore scored 19 points and grabbed 8 rebounds on the night.
Robert Hubbs contributed 12 and Kevin Punter had 10 to round out the Vols double figure scorers. At one time in the second half Tennessee hit five three pointers in a row in to stretch Tennessee’s lead. LSU never got within 11 of the Vols after this barrage. Punter hit 2 and the Vols had one each from Devon Baulkman, Moore and Hubbs.
During Tennessee’s February slide the Vols averaged only 50 points per game. Tennessee scored 45 in the second half alone last night. The Vols knocked down their open three pointers on this night, which is something they have not been able to do during the skid. The shots have been there, they just haven’t fallen. Last night they did.
The Victory will probably hurt LSU’s NCAA tournament bid chances. LSU is 21-9 and falls to 10-7 in the SEC. At 15-14 the Vols best hope is a NIT bid, but that may not happen as SEC rival Vanderbilt has heated up and won it’s last 5 games to get to 18 total wins. It will depend on what Tennessee can do against South Carolina at home in it’s final game, and if they can win a few games in the SEC Tournament in Nashville. Home has not been comforting to the Vols this bizarre season.
The SEC Tournament could be interesting for the Vols. Tennessee has been a very good road team all year long. If Tennessee can get the right draw early in the Tourney the Vols are capable of winning a few in Nashville. Two wins in the tourney may be enough to get the Vols in the NIT, and that would be huge for Donnie Tyndall in his first year as Tennessee’s Head Coach.
I would love to see this team rewarded with post season play. I know it is not sweet sixteen like last year, but an NIT bid for this team would be huge. Many had Tennessee to finish next to last in the SEC, but their heart and Tyndall’s match up zone make Tennessee a tough out for anyone. Let’s beat South Carolina Saturday, and see what happens from there. Beating South Carolina is a must at this point.