Throughout January and most of February, it looked like Tennessee Basketball was going to struggle to win without shooting well from three. Their leading scorer, Chaz Lanier, was at the heart of that. Manufacturing points was an area where this team had a huge drop-off from last year’s team.
However, in SEC Tournament play, that has not been the case. The Vols, ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll and No. 6 in the Coaches Poll, upset the No. 3 ranked Auburn Tigers in the tourney semifinals Saturday. That followed their 83-72 win over the Texas Longhorns Friday.
In both cases, Tennessee Basketball shot poorly from three, going 26.3 percent Saturday and 25 percent Friday. Sure, the defense was there against Auburn, but getting to 70 points when they only scored 51 in their two-point loss to Bruce Pearl’s team on the road in the regular season shows marked improvement.
The advantage? UT is now getting to the free throw line.
Rick Barnes’ team shot 24-of-35 from the stripe on Friday, and their free throw shooting was the difference on Saturday, as they shot 25-of-27 while Auburn was only 13-of-22. This is how Zakai Zeigler scored 20 points Saturday while Jordan Gainey scored 15 despite them combining to go 2-of-10 from outside.
Perhaps it’s because in both cases, the teams the Vols played may have taken off plays when it came to their interior defense. After all, Texas was tired playing its third game in three days and coming off a double-overtime win the night before, and Auburn may have wanted to conserve energy for the NCAA Tournament.
Still, manufacturing points is now on the board for the Vols. Chaz Lanier only had 12 points and hit two threes, but he did hit three field goals in the paint, and that was despite obvious times he passed up opportunities to drive to the basket. While that could be concerning, it shows the Vols have more scoring potential in the paint.
Now, as UT gets set for the NCAA Tournament, regardless of what happens Sunday, they have dramatically improved their offense. They have used this event to throw a new wrinkle into their offense and allow them to withstand bad luck when it comes to shooting disparities in March Madness.
Typically, teams have already figured themselves and their opponents out when it comes to conference tournaments. Tennessee Basketball is breaking from tradition adding this element to its game. Maybe that made a meaningless tournament worth playing hard in.
