Tennessee Basketball: Vols continue to struggle on the road

Tennessee, despite the great start, has started to struggle in SEC play on the road, as they have lost their last two games on the road.

The Tennessee Volunteers basketball teams started off the year scorching hot, but have recently started to struggle. They are currently 19-7 and ranked #19, but have slid in the rankings over the last two weeks.

Tennessee is still 2nd in the SEC conference standings, boasting a 9-5 record with four games remaining. The Volunteers can’t afford another slip-up, as there is a logjam in the standings under Tennessee. Four teams have an SEC record of 8-6 and two teams have a record of 7-7. If the Volunteers want a double-bye in the SEC Tournament, they need to take care of business these next four games.

Recent Struggles

Many people jumped on Tennessee’s bandwagon when they beat Kentucky at Rupp Arena, but the Volunteers have lost two of three since that game. The Volunteers got destroyed on the road against Alabama and then followed that performance with a mediocre performance in a win against South Carolina. The Volunteers traveled down to Athens on Saturday to face off against Georgia and had yet another ugly performance.

Consistency among the guards has been a question mark for Tennessee all year. You can see a common theme among the guards when the Volunteers win and when they lose.

Take a look at the Ole Miss and Kentucky win when the Volunteers were on their winning streak. Lamonte Turner and Jordan Bowden played great, leading the Volunteers to a win, with Jordan Bone and James Daniel III contributing as well.

Then take a look at the recent losses to Alabama and Georgia. Nobody on Tennessee played well at Alabama, but the guards especially struggled. They had a hard time stopping Collin Sexton and John Petty on the defensive end. On the offensive end, Bone, Bowden, Daniel III and Turner combined for a total of 15 points. You won’t be able to win games in the SEC if you have a combined 15 points from your guards. At Georgia, Bowden and Turner showed out, but Bone and Daniel III both struggled. For this team to do good in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments, they will need to see more consistent guard play.

Grant Williams has been a player that the Volunteers can lean on in clutch moments. Williams hit a clutch shot last Tuesday at home against South Carolina to put the Volunteers on top. They looked to go to Williams again on Saturday, but that didn’t work out at all. Williams shot 1-8 from the field and only ended up with five points, as he was in foul trouble for much of the game.

Teams are consistently game planning for Williams, so the Volunteers will need to see good play from other players as the season goes on.

Bracketology Projections

Despite the recent struggles, the Volunteers will still make the NCAA Tournament. No worries about that one. The Volunteers don’t want to continue this slide, though. If the Volunteers can handle business and get a double-bye in the SEC Tournament, as well as a win or two there, they have a great chance of staying around the 4 or 5-seed.

Tennessee’s resume is good enough to be able to get them a good seed despite the number of losses. The Volunteers have good quality wins against Purdue, NC State and Kentucky (twice) and also have quality losses to Villanova and North Carolina.

The SEC this season is one of, if not the toughest conference out there. If the Volunteers are able to come out with a good record and a good conference tournament, they would have a great seed. Joe Lunardi, a bracketology analyst for ESPN, had Tennessee staying as a 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Lunardi had seven other SEC teams in his updated bracket, including Auburn, Kentucky, Alabama, Florida, Texas A&M, Missouri, and Arkansas.

The Volunteers have a great chance this week to help solidify their resume. They face Florida at home on Wednesday and travel to Ole Miss on Saturday. If the Volunteers can come away with two SEC wins, that would be a huge momentum booster heading into the final week of the regular season.