Tennessee Basketball’s biggest problem: officiating

After Tennessee basketball struggled with officiating against Kansas, the officials come back to bite the Vols again in Texas A&M game.

Tennessee basketball lost its second consecutive game on Tuesday night, and the officials played a big factor in the game, once again.

Of course, the entire loss didn’t fall on the officials. There are other issues the Vols still need to address, but it’s hard to win any game when the officials are actively making calls against you.

It seemed clear, once again, that college basketball officials have something against Tennessee, and I’m not sure what it is, but these officials should be held accountable for their actions.

For example, one official walked into an idle Rick Barnes and then turned to him and acted like Barnes moved into the official. How do officials get away with things like this and aren’t held accountable?

It’s really frustrating when officials affect games like they did on Tuesday night. You can’t tell me officials changed the outcome of this game, either.

Tennessee shot 46.7% from the field compared to Texas A&M, shooting only 30.4% from the field. The Vols made four more shots from the field, one less three-pointer, and somehow Texas A&M shot 14 more free throws than the Vols. That doesn’t quite add up to me.

Maybe I’m the only one that is skeptical about the previous two Tennessee basketball games, but there’s something going on where the officials are calling against Tennessee.

Like I said previously, I’m not blaming the entire loss on the officials. The Vols were destroyed on the glass as they were outrebounded 46 to 21. The Aggies had 23 offensive and defensive rebound each, which is both more than the Vols’ rebounding total from the game.

Other than being outrebounded, the Vols played a pretty good game. Four out of the five starters finished with ten or more points, and like I said, the Vols shot 46% from the field.

The Vols are getting better, but the officials have held them back from two very winnable games over the past week. If the officials start being held accountable for their actions, then maybe Tennessee can get some fair games.