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NASHVILLE, Tn. — The second half of Tennessee basketball’s 75-68 loss against Vanderbilt turned into a free throw contest as the officials began calling a tighter game. It was no surprise that Tennessee lost it.
“Some of it’s the same thing,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “Free throws today. We had a chance to build a lead in the first half. Missed free throws.”
Jaylen Carey went zero-for-four at the line in the first half. Ja’Kobi Gillespie, the best free throw shooter on the team, made just two-of-four attempts. Felix Okpara had a zero-for-two trip to the line in the second half. Nate Ament, who shot better than any other Vol at the line, missed a free throw to tie the game in the second half.
As a team, the Vols shot 16-for-26 at the foul line against Vanderbilt. They were better in the second half after starting the game horribly. But compared to Vanderbilt, who made 22-of-26 attempts including its final eight and 11-of-12 in the final 10 minutes, it was a noticeable difference in the game.
“It’s definitely a mental thing,” junior power forward JP Estrella said. “We talk about it, coach talks about it, you have to be mentally strong to make those. Especially down the stretch. I feel like we just got to do a better job because I think we missed 10 tonight. Something like that. We have to do a better job making our free throws.”
The need to improve free throw shooting has been a talking about for Tennessee all season. Tennessee is shooting 69.4% from the line this season, a mark that ranks 288th nationally. In the Vols’ 11 losses this season, they’re shooting just 62.6% from the foul line.
Tennessee has missed nine-plus free throws in five of its 11 losses. The loss against Kansas is the only one where Tennessee shot over 70% from the line. They’ve shot under 65% in six of their 11 losses.
Vol players say that the issues are all mental. The struggles aren’t for a lack of trying. Tennessee has put effort into fixing the issue and has attempted to create pressure situations in practice.
“We do a free throw thing after every shoot around,” Estrella said. “We go into two different groups and you have to make 50 free throws. Every miss is minus-three. Every make is plus-one. You get to like 40 it’s minus-four. 45 is minus-five. We do shoot a ton of them. It’s just a matter of being mentally tough when you get fouled and you’re tired from the game. Just make sure that we make them.”
Tennessee shooting free throws well in any individual game is certainly possible. But this is not a good free throw shooting team and expecting it to change now is unlikely. It’s one of the handful of flaws that continues to bite Tennessee as they enter the NCAA Tournament.
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