Sometimes you just have a bad day shooting the ball, and on the surface, that seemed to be the case for Tennessee Basketball in their 69-50 Elite Eight loss to the Houston Cougars Sunday. The Vols were 5-of-29 from the outside, but they went 1-of-15 from beyond the arc in the first half and missed their first 14 attempts.
Given how they seemed to have plenty of open looks in the final 10 minutes of the first half, it’s easy to see how fans might just want to say UT had bad luck shooting the ball from the outside in this particular game. However, that ignores what Houston did early to set the tone.
Remember, Tennessee Basketball had just two points in the first five minutes and four in the first nine. Kelvin Sampson employed his classic perimeter zone defense, which allowed them to get around screens and contest every shot. They also had the size under the basket to keep UT from driving or getting offensive rebounds.
The result, before the Vols were able to adjust, was a horrendous offensive outing that got them behind by 13 at the 10-minute mark. At that point, the Vols continued to miss three-pointers until the final minute of the first half despite adjusting and finding open looks.
So what was the problem?
Houston simply took them out of their rhythm early, and it was hard to get it back. Although the adjustments created more looks for them, including more tempo and drive and kicks, they were down so much that they weren’t shooting with clear heads. It showed.
Think about Jahmai Mashack for a second. He was a 75 percent free throw shooter on the year, but early in the game, he missed two, and that got Houston’s momentum going. There’s no explanation other than Houston threw him and the rest of the Vols off their rhythm.
Desperation began to kick in when the second half began, and somehow that tweaked the Vols’ psyche enough to shoot well from outside for a period, but it was too late. It’s hard to fully pin down how psyche affects shooting, similar to how it affects golf swings.
What’s clear, though, is that the Vols were never right after the defense dialed up against them in the first 10 minutes. Perhaps things might have been different if they had J.P. Estrella all year and were able to establish a presence down low, but that wasn’t the case.
At the end of the day, Tennessee Basketball did indeed pick the wrong time to struggle from outside, but Houston deserves more credit than the bad luck. After torching the Kentucky Wildcats in the paint Friday, the Vols got nothing there on Sunday, and it messed up their entire offense.
