Tennessee just couldn’t get shots to drop on Tuesday evening.
Time after time, shots that normally go in for the Vols rattled juuuust out while a very physical South Carolina had their way with Tennessee throughout much of the contest.
The Gamecocks (18-3, 6-2 SEC) scored the game’s first seven and the home crowd at Thompson Boling Arena grew increasingly restless as it saw shot after shot after shot after shot rattle in and out for the Vols (15-5, 5-2).
The pace was frenzied and the referees let the fellas play in the game’s opening minutes. The latter part of that statement would waver as the game progressed.
Jonas Aidoo, who has stretched his game to new levels this season, struggled early on with three of the aforementioned contested but makeable shots.
Tobe Awaka, a sophomore 6-8, 250 pound large forward from Hyde Park New York popped off the bench and slid down the court to relieve him but with no fouls or out of bounds plays, he sat in front of the scorers table for three minutes of game time.
The tired fans finally had a seat with 16:12 to go when former Northern Colorado mid Dalton Knecht hit the Vols first bucket. Mid no more, Knecht had accumulated 160 points in Tennessee’s last five games. It’s the best scoring stretch for any player in the SEC in 19 years. He added 31 more on Tuesday.
By the time that first media timeout came, a finally awoken Awaka was joined by Jordan Gainey and Jahmai Mayshack. Both of the latter have been relevant pieces of the recent Tennessee narrative but didn’t add much to the mix in this one.
Gainey has been hot from the field for the last couple of contests after seeing his role shrink early in SEC play. Mayshack is always that dog on defense and he’s been especially ferocious of late.
Vols super senior guard Santiago Vescovi was inspired from the jump. We in the Blank camp have wanted to see a little swag from Vescovi this year and he seemed to find his groove at moments against South Carolina. Still, something seems off.
South Carolina big Josh Gray picked up his second foul with 7:56 to go in the half but stayed in the game. Aidoo picked up his second penalty one minute later but Awaka checked in for him. Tennessee’s depth is a legitimate strong point and will only become more important as the season wears on.
But South Carolina’s bench came to play as well.
Gray picked up his second basket on the Gcock’s next possession. After some back and forth, Awaka made a bucket that gave the Vols their first lead in several minutes at 22-21. The rest of the half was a rockfight and at triple zeroes, South Carolina led 30-26.
Dalton Knecht had 13 of Tennessee’s 26 points at the break while Ta’Lon Cooper had 10 of South Carolina’s 30. This marked the second time in a row that Tennessee trailed at the half.
The Vols started the second half on a 7-3 run.
Vescovi had a breakaway finger roll and a huge three just after to tie the contest at 33 up. His hit triggered the loudest roar of the evening up to that point but South Carolina was unfazed. After three questionable fouls against UT, USC senior forward B.J. Mack scored to put the Gamecocks back in front 35-33 with 16 and a half minutes remaining.
The pace slowed drastically for the Vols and USC slowly built a six-point lead. Midway through the second half, Josiah Jordan James hit a pull up from the middle of the lane to make the score 46-42 in favor of the visiting Gamecocks.
It was at the next break when Gainey, Aidoo and Vescovi checked back in and the Vols attempted to calm the waters. Chants of “dee-fince” ran through the stands and the Vols got a few good looks, but as was the case early in the game, they just wouldn’t drop.
Knecht had a one-and-one opportunity with 8:17 to go and hit both to close the gap to four but South Carolina hovered slightly above the Vols like fruit flies in a summer kitchen.
With 3:30 left in the game, Knecht had a chance for two at the free throw line with the Vols trailing by nine. The first one was halfway done and jumped out. The second verse was the same as the first. It just wasn’t Tennessee’s night.
Knecht hit two runners with under two minutes to go and Tennessee followed with its best defensive stand of the game. Knecht would get fouled on the ensuing drive but only hit one of his two free throws.
Cooper hit a dagger of a three immediately after and the lead was back to 6 with 39.6 seconds in regulation.
With 31.1 seconds to go, Knecht answered with a three of his own.
Myles Stute, a forward who came off the bench and made all three of his three-point shots, hit two really tough free throws, placing his index finger perpendicular to the middle of his mouth between the shots.
Then, after chasing down a rebound that went three quarters of the court away from the basket, Knecht threw up a prayer from three that was somehow so pure that it didn’t move the net on its way down. With five seconds left and a 61-59 lead, South Carolina barely got the ball in to, you guessed it, Myles Stute. As Tennessee conversed in front of the junior guard while he waited for the ball, he worried not. “I’m gonna make it. It’s that simple,” his lips read. He was right, and it ended up closing the door on the Vols comeback hopes.
The Vols go to Lexington to face Kentucky on Saturday at 8:30pm EST.
Items of note:
– Tennessee has 53 NBA draft picks in its steep history. It will add at least one more with Dalton Knecht, but time will tell if any other Vols will be drafted this summer.
– South Carolina entered the game ranked just outside of the top 25 at 26th in the AP poll. This is the third week that Tennessee has been placed inside the top five in the same poll. It’s the third stretch of at least that length in program history. Both of these metrics will most likely end when the next poll is announced.
– Cumulatively, there were over a dozen close shots or rebounds off of fingertips that didn’t go Tennessee’s way. Tennessee shot 36 percent from the field, 24 percent from three and 60 percent from the free throw line.
– South Carolina has Sweet 16 potential.
