The new faces on Rocky Top seem to have found comfort in Knoxville.
The roster’s elder statesmen may have led the team in minutes played, but the youngsters shined just as bright as the vets during Tuesday night’s 90-62 win over UT Martin.
That is, if you still consider Olivier Nkamhoua and Santiago Vescovi newcomers.
Nkamhoua, who scored 11 and grabbed 14 boards, is entering his third full season as a Vol, so it may be harder to make a case to call him a newcomer, but that’s not necessarily the case with Vescovi.
It seems like the Uruguayan guard has been at Tennessee forever at times, and at others, it seems as if he’s still an underclassmen. Having enrolled midway through his freshman season, Vescovi didn’t play his first game until January of 2020.
His performance on Tuesday night came on the heels of a real yawner in UT’s preseason exhibition and from the jump, it was obvious that Vescovi was locked in. He balled out for 20 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Vescovi hit Tennessee’s first bucket, a three, after missing his first shot behind the arc. It wouldn’t be the only second chance points for the Vols on the night and it wouldn’t be the last three taken.
Tennessee will look to find balance throughout its early season campaign, and it appears it will do so from behind the three-point line. Of the 40 shots Tennessee took in the first half, 21 of them were from deep. UT made eight of these shots (that’s 38%) and made just seven of their 19 two point baskets (that’s 36%).
Tennessee doubled its three-point output in the second half to run the total number of threes for the game to 40. UT made 17 of them, a new school record.
Uros Plavsic again got the start and had a nice post back down on the Vols second possession. Any addition he can make on the offensive end will be a long-awaited and welcomed site by Vol fans. He added a few more good moments throughout the game but was hampered by foul trouble.
Freshman Kennedy Chandler scored his first bucket just under two and a half minutes into the game. He had a few literally ooooo-inspiring moments (the crowd went oooo) in the opening ten minutes of play but a few of these plays ended with a dirty dish to Plavsic that didn’t quite make it to the basket. Chandler’s penetration is going to drive defenses crazy all year and sure, soft hands in the post on UT’s part could result in some easy buckets as the season progresses.
Olivier Nkamhoua hit the second of the Vols triples, but by that point the Vols had already started on its second handful of attempts. Nkamhoua played one of his best games as a Vol before fouling out.
After the first media timeout (see notables below for more on media breaks), Victor Bailey Jr. and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield were the first of the Vols subs.
Justin Powell and Zakai Zeigler were the next to enter for the Vols, while Plasvic and JJJ were the first to reenter for Tennessee. One of the more interesting things about early season games is the search for the perfect player rotation. With the depth on Rocky Top this season, one of head coach Rick Barnes’ toughest jobs will be finding the right mix of personality and chemistry on the wood.
This game wasn’t easy for the Vols in the early going and that chemistry was hard to find at times.
Powell hit his first shot of the night to bring the Vols to within one at 19-20 with 12 to go in the first half but the game then stalled on both ends.
Tennessee’s defense finally stiffened a bit to bookend the under 12:00 media break.
Before the break, Zeigler showed his sticky and forced an airball from the UT Martin point guard.
The other side of the break saw back-to-back good defensive plays by Josiah Jordan James. Still, the Vols trailed after a pair of JJJ free throws went awry. No one scored again until Martin’s Koby Jeffries hit a free throw with 9:20 to go.
With the score still 21-19, Huntley-Hatfield dismissed a shot and pushed it to Chandler who calmly ran down the long pass, gathered and sliced a three from the free throw line extended. In a span of just 15 seconds, the two most highly touted recruits from Tennessee’s fourth-ranked class had given the Vols a three-point lead. Those quick swings might give fans more patience if the droughts that usually come with a team that shoots a lot of threes occur from time to time.
On the ensuing possession, Huntley-Hatfield showed quick hands to give the ball back to Tennessee and Powell shocked everyone in the building by taking a jumpshot that wasn’t a three. He hit the mid range jumper just to remind folks that it could still be done and the Vols were in a dogfight with UT Martin.
As the half progressed, UT calmed a bit and took a 43-35 lead to the half.
See notables for halftime show recap.
Just like the first possession in the opening half, the Vols found themselves on the receiving end of an offensive rebound on the first possession of the second. This was a strength on the night, as Tennessee racked up 23 offensive boards on the night. It accounted for half of the team’s rebounds. Programs that shoot a lot of threes normally enjoy a greater percentage of offensive rebounds because the longer range shots often create longer range caroms, thus devaluing the age-old practice of boxing out a bit.
The Vols were unchallenged for the most part after the half, save for a moment when UT Martin’s KK Curry brought the UT lead to within ten with 14:30 to go.
The threat didn’t last, though.
Chandler immediately pushed down the court and hit a three to stretch the lead back to 11. Chandler found Plavsic on the following play, which resulted in an and-one. The next series resulted in another Powell three and just like that, Tennessee was up 59-42.
The spark Chandler gave the Vols came just when it needed it and it would never look back. The freshman finished the game with 20 points, which tied for the lead with Vescovi, while adding 4 assists. He was a perfect 2 of 2 from the free throw line and 4 of 4 from three.
Powell ended his first proper game as a Vol with 13 points on five of nine shooting from the field and three rebounds.
JJJ struggled again from the field with only two points, but had five rebounds, four blocks and five steals.
Huntley-Hatfield finished with seven points and six rebounds.
The Vols will have an upgraded test against ETSU at noon on November 14th. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
Notables
-The pandemic seems to have had no adverse affect on the desires of people in crowds to obtain a free t shirt. No amount of arm flailing is too much if the cannon is loaded and ready. It was good to see.
– Media timeouts occur in four minute increments during the game. These stoppages occur at the first dead ball inside of 16:00, 12:00, 8:00 and 4:00 minutes, each half. If there is not a foul or out of bounds that occurs, sometimes these breaks can stretch much longer than the normal 4 minutes.
– 52% of Tennessee’s shots in the first half were threes. That stat remained steadfast for the game.
-Plasvic picked up his third foul in the waning seconds of the first half and the person in charge of the music in the arena played “I got five on it” by LUNIZ as he left the court. He was replaced by Nkamhoua so as not to pick up a fourth foul in the first half.
– John Fulkerson’s career as a Vol has spanned the tenure of three different U.S Presidents. He is believed to be the fourth-oldest player in division 1 basketball at the age of 41. Just kidding, he’s 24.
– During one of those aforementioned media timeouts, I looked up at the jumbo to see an enthusiastic Boone Griffin shredding his way through an air-guitar contest with proud papa Josh Griffin cheering him on. Boone won the contest with ease. I grew up with Josh and this was great to see. Josh had his shirt on. Boone did not.
– Chandler is very calm as a shooter. Both he and Barnes mentioned Chandler needing to slow down a bit after the exhibition game against Lenoir Rhyne and he seems to have heeded that advice when it comes to loading up for a trey. He very quietly had 12 points in the first half.
– Chandler, Huntley-Hatfield, JJJ, Vescovi and Nkamhoua started the second half for the Vols.
– A memorandum was given to courtside seat ticket holders before this game detailing a “zero tolerance” policy to any individual in a courtside seat who engages in profanity, taunting or any threatening remarks or actions. The letter, written by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, also states that game officials have the authority to instruct game management to remove from the arena any individual who fails to meet the Conference’s conduct expectations. In addition to being removed from a courtside seat, the home team may be assessed a technical foul due to inappropriate fan behavior and ticket privileges may be revoked.
-Niles, the comedy juggler, is dedicated to his craft. He was there practicing an hour and a half before the game, ready to juggle anything in sight. I was lucky to make it through the tunnel beside him pregame without being tossed myself.
