Exactly 25 years ago this month, Tennessee Basketball saw a sure trip to the Final Four slip through its fingers with a Sweet 16 loss to a bad North Carolina Tar Heels team. They lost because UNC got into foul trouble and had to put in Julius Peppers, yes, that Julius Peppers, to finish the game. Down nine, UNC found a mismatch advantage with Peppers that the Vols couldn’t stop.
Sunday’s 69-50 loss to the Houston Cougars wasn’t nearly the coaching debacle that Jerry Green put on display with that loss to UNC all those years ago, but early foul trouble for Kelvin Sampson’s team put Tennessee Basketball in a position it likely wasn’t prepared for.
J’Wan Roberts, who averages nearly 11 points a game, left within the first 10 minutes of the matchup due to two early fouls. Terrance Arceneaux came in to replace him, and all he did was score eight points in a five-minute span to help Houston build an insurmountable lead.
Now, to be fair, when Roberts went to the bench, UT had scored just three points through over five minutes. However, Houston only had nine, so this was very much a game. Also, from an X’s and O’s standpoint, Arceneaux brought in a level of athleticism that made it hard for Barnes to adjust.
Typically, as we wrote that they should have, Tennessee Basketball, despite its slow pace, would use its elite guard play to turn up the tempo. They seemed to do that. However, Arceneaux was athletic enough to stay with them in the fast break that he forced some bad decisions.
All of a sudden, just like UNC a quarter-century ago, the Vols found themselves in a bind because their opponent was in foul trouble. This seems to be a bad break for the program that stems beyond the court, although that’s where the curse can sometimes seem most prominent.
How about football? The Vols lost two SEC Championships, both to the LSU Tigers in 2001 and 2007, because they found themselves facing a quarterback with a completely different style of play than what they prepared for. This seems to have been the biggest barrier for the elusiveness of the Vols’ goals in the two revenue-producing sports.
Look, Rule No. 76 still exists. No excuses, play like a champion. Regardless of the sport, the Vols have to adjust when these things happen, but it certainly seems like this game broke open against Tennessee Basketball after Roberts went to the bench. Perhaps that’s something Rick Barnes just didn’t prepare for.
