The Tennessee Vols basketball team had a Senior Day to forget after a heartbreaking loss to Vanderbilt 86-82. This puts Tennessee at 21-10 on the year, capping off an up and down season for the Vols. Rick Barnes has done a good job with this team for the most part, but some of the same issues have lingered all season. Not having Nate Ament has really hurt, as the Vols didn't have much of an inside presence today. The good news is the Vols one the first meeting, so they will end up splitting with Vandy.
Tennessee did a really good job this year of battling, but the turnovers and lack of execution for long lapses has consistently hindered the Vols. Barnes has been a preaching this all season in the press conferences, but the message still hasn't got around. Tyler Tanner was the main spoiler today adding 25 points on 7-9 shooting.
Digging deeper, senior point guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie had a very forgetful Senior Day. Gillespie was 5-for-22 from the field and 1-11 from three-point land. Gillespie also had five turnovers in the contest today. The Vols didn't a mediocre job defensively today, and couldn't execute well enough on offense. It just wasn't there day.
Now Tennessee will begin too prepare for the SEC tournament and March Madness. As of right now, the Vols will likely be the No. 5 seed in the SEC tournament and will have a a game next week to open up the tourney. The Vols will look to bolster their NCAA tournament seed line as we approach next Sunday's selections show.
Now, with the season done, it wasn't as well as many hoped, but the Vols are not done yet. In the one-and-done format the Vols can succeed with good defense, and rebounding. The x-factor will be having a healthy Nate Ament and just average offensive execution.
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