Tennessee Basketball’s tournament hopes died in second half collapse
Tennessee basketball loses in what could very well be the dagger in its postseason hopes after a second-half collapse at Auburn.
Well, we all knew it was coming eventually. Tennessee basketball needed pretty much to win its final five games of the season to pray for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but with Auburn coming up twice and Kentucky one more time, that seemed impossible.
The small chances that Tennessee had at winning out were ended after the Vols collapsed in the second half and were unable to finish off the Tigers on the road.
Going into halftime, Tennessee led 41-33 and had a chance to come out in the second half and continue laying it on Auburn and run away with the win. Instead, Rick Barnes and the Vols moved away from what worked in the second half and ran a different offensive system.
In my opinion, if you score 40 points in a half, then something is definitely working. Go out in the second half and do your best to repeat what you did in the first half, don’t change everything to something that hasn’t been working. That’s how you only score 25 points in a half.
And that’s exactly what happened. In the second half, Auburn outscored Tennessee 40-25, and that was enough to get the seven-point win.
I understand you want to get the ball in your senior forward’s hands, but if the offense is flourishing without John Fulkerson, then do what you have to do to keep the offense flowing.
Jordan Bowden was on fire on Saturday, and for the first time in 2020, I wish he would’ve shot more threes. He finished the night shooting 9-for-12 from the field and 3-for-4 from three with a total of 28 points.
He was a big reason the Vols were leading in the first half, and his absence on offense in the second half is a big reason why Tennessee lost.
Bowden had 17 points in the first half to his 11 in the second half. Not only was he shooting and scoring a lot in the first half, but he was also racking up assists as the offense went through him on most of Tennessee’s possessions.
Especially late in a close game, you’re going to want to put the ball in the hands of the player that is hot. Bowden was hot, and in the final 15 minutes of the game, Bowden shot 2-3 and made two free throws. Keeping the ball out of the hot player’s hands is not a recipe for success.
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With the season coming to a close, I’d like to see Bowden finish the season on a hot streak before his career at Tennessee is done. Maybe Barnes and the Vols will learn their lesson, and if Bowden can get hot again, then they’ll keep the ball in his hands.