Alex Caruso has been a thorn in the side of the Tennessee Volunteers for what seems like forever.
Two years ago, it was Caruso who set up a late three by Antwan Space with 4.4 seconds to go in Thompson Boling Arena, sealing a last second Texas A&M win after the Aggies were down by 14 points at the half .
This was the first time Rick Barnes had faced the pesky guard as head coach of The Big Orange, but Caruso didn’t seem to notice the change in coaching at UT. “You have to give A&M a lot of credit,” said Barnes after the 92-88 loss. “Their experience kept them in the game the whole game. I can’t say enough about Alex Caruso. He is a player every coach would like to have. He just does so many things to disrupt your team and a lot to help his team.”
The combination of Caruso, Jalen Jones and Danuel House accounted for 63 of the Aggies points and helped engineer the 16-4 run to end the game.
With 17:04 to go in the second half, Vols Senior Point Guard Kevin Punter pushed the Tennessee lead to 13 with a three, but A&M would not relinquish their efforts, and stayed within striking distance throughout. Another Punter three gave the Vols a ten point lead with just over 10:00 to go in the game. Despite two Texas A&M starters earning their fourth fouls with just under 7:00 to go, and an impressive performance from Admiral Schofield and Detrick Mostella, the Vols couldn’t stop the Aggies comeback. On its last possession, Tennessee had two looks, including one from Mostella from three that was half way down, but it rimmed out and House hit two free throws to cement the final.
Tennessee faces conference tilts against Georgia, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Alabama before taking part in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge against TCU.
The Vols then host Kentucky on February 2nd.
