basketball vols sluggish during latest victory

The Tennessee basketball team’s most glaring weakness a year ago looks like its going to be the team’s Achilles’ heel again this year.

The No. 7 Vols were a dismal 21-of-47 from the line Friday night in an uninspired 89-75 victory over Prairie View A&M in the second round of the StubHub Legends Classic played at UT’s Thompson-Boling Arena.

Tennessee was also beaten 48-43 on the boards and allowed the Panthers 20 offensive rebounds.

Third-year Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl said a lesser team would have lost Friday’s game.

“Our concerns remain the same—rebounding, free-throw shooting and 3-point shots,” said Peal. “I can not say a lot of terrifically positive things except to give Prairie View tremendous credit. We just were not prepared to play.”

Speaking of free throws, the visiting Panthers didn’t have much of a chance to punish UT for its missed freebies—Prairie View only attempted 10 free throws and hit just six against the Vols.

The undermanned but taller Panthers were actually leading by one—36-35—at halftime but saw a reinvigorated Tennessee team come out of the locker room. The Vols, led in the game by transfer Tyler Smith’s 15 points, outscored Prairie View A&M 54-39 over the final 20 minutes of the game.

“We really believe we can compete with anybody in the nation,” Prairie View A&M head coach Byron Rimm II said after the Vols’ second-half explosion ruined the Panthers’ upset bid.

“We were happy to be up at the half, but we knew it was a 40-minute game,” Rimm added. “We were not just happy to be here. We were determined to win.”

Tennessee’s senior All-American Chris Lofton continues to experience early struggles from behind the three-point arc. The reigning Southeastern Conference Player of the Year was just 2-of-9 from behind the three-point stripe against the Panthers to finish with 14 points.

It’s not just from downtown that Lofton is struggling from. He is just 6-of-28 from the field after three games this season, including his 3-of-13 effort from the floor Friday against the Panthers.

Tennessee junior forward Ryan Childress tied a career-high with 14 points to go along with eight boards against the Panthers. UT’s 6-foot-10 freshman Brian Williams took a hard fall early in the second half while going for a defensive rebound and did not return to the game. The big New Yorker still had eight rebounds though after a splendid first half performance.

Pearl said in his postgame press conference Williams looks to be fine and was just held out for precautionary measures.

Point guard Ramar Smith finished with 10 points to give the Vols four players in double figures in the game. Smith could have been the leading scorer had he hit his free throws. The Michigan native sophomore was an abysmal 0-for-12 from the stripe against the Panthers.

The Vols will host MTSU Tuesday and will face West Virginia on Thursday at a neutral site as part of the StubHub Legends Tournament.