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Tennessee Basketball survives another day

By Colton Pickard

KNOXVILLE, TN - FEBRUARY 19: John Fulkerson #10 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates on the bench during the game between the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 19, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 58-46. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - FEBRUARY 19: John Fulkerson #10 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates on the bench during the game between the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 19, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 58-46. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee basketball survives another day with its 65-61 win against Vanderbilt, and the Vols’ NCAA Tournament chances aren’t dead yet.

Tennessee basketball improves to 15-11 and lives to fight another day for its NCAA Tournament chances. Tuesday night’s victory over in-state rival Vanderbilt gives the Vols another much-needed win to add to its resume.

John Fulkerson once again led the team in points with 17, and Jordan Bowden finished the night tied at the top with Fulky. Santiago Vescovi was right there with Fulky and Bowden as he finished the night with 14 points.

Late free throws from Bowden sealed the deal for Tennessee and after a difficult season, Bowden was able to win the game for Tennessee against Vandy. The Vols will need Bowden to step up again for pretty much every game until the Tennessee season comes to an end.

In most games, if Tennessee can have three players perform like Vescovi, Fulkerson, and Bowden did on Tuesday night, then that will be enough for Tennessee to win.

Also, the Vols surprisingly didn’t kill themselves with shooting an endless amount of threes. Tennessee finished the night shooting 4-for-16 at 25%. That’s not great but I guess it’s an improvement from 19%.

Even though it was somewhat of an improvement, I would still strongly urge the Vols to stop shooting threes, especially if they only make four.

Tennessee’s next big test will be this Saturday when the Vols head to Auburn to face the Tigers. Auburn is currently ranked 13th in the country so it won’t be an easy win for Tennessee.

If that isn’t a difficult task as it is, the Vols will have to play Auburn again in its last game of the season along with the 10th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in between.

Next. Tennessee football is back in the Top 25. dark

Five games remain in Tennessee’s season, and winning all five is probably the only way that Tennessee will make it into the NCAA Tournament. Although Tennessee probably won’t go very far in the tournament, an appearance is better than no appearance at all.

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