LAS VEGAS – Tennessee basketball squandered a chance to finish 3-0 at the Players Era Festival and remain undefeated.
The No. 16 Vols (7-1) went away from what built their 12-point lead early in the second half, and Kansas (6-2) stormed back to win 81-76 in the third-place game at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Nov. 26.
Here’s what went wrong for Tennessee in its first loss of the season.
Tennessee settled for too many 3-pointers
Tennessee shot 28% on 25 attempts from 3-point range, and it settled for too many shots behind the arc in the second half.
The Vols shot 5-for-13 on 3-pointers in the first half, which wasn’t a bad mark considering Ja’Kobi Gillespie went an uncharacteristic 0-for-3 before halftime. But then they shot 2-for-12 in the second half, and they didn’t score at the rim enough.
“I told our post guys when they’re out there shooting jump shots, I’m sure (Kansas coach) Bill (Self) and his staff were sitting on the bench saying, good let them do it. Let him. We don’t want them in there,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “That goes back to where we didn’t follow the things we talked about and what we need guys to do.”
Barnes didn’t think all the 3-pointers were necessarily bad shots, but there were times they needed to drive the ball and get to the foul line when they were in the double bonus. Barnes believed the 22 free throw attempts would have been even with Kansas’ 30 if the Vols had tried to drive the ball more.
Vols let offensive struggles dictate defense in second half
Tennessee’s 12-point lead started to crumble when the Vols let their offensive struggles dictate their defense.
Kansas started chipping away when it grabbed two offensive rebounds on the same possession and hit a 3-pointer. Then Felix Okpara missed a jumper and Jaylen Carey sent Kansas to the free-throw line. Nate Ament then missed shots on two straight possessions and UT gave up a transition 3-pointer.
Then the Vols started fouling and gave up three and-one plays in an almost three-minute span. Tennessee missed another jumper shortly after and gave up three straight layups to Kansas for a 6-0 run to take a 68-64 lead.
“Second half, I thought they out-competed us when it counted,” Barnes said. “And that’s the hardest thing to take when they’re doing things that we could have done.”
Tennessee needs more from its starting frontcourt
Barnes wasn’t happy with the fact that Okpara and Cade Phillips didn’t have a single offensive rebound between them. The two starters in the frontcourt only combined for five rebounds total in a game that Tennessee got outrebounded 37-36.
The pair combined for 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting, and Okpara went 3-for-4 on free throws.
Barnes said the Vols can’t put everything on Gillespie, who shot 1-for-10 on 3-pointers. Gillespie had a heavy load over three days, averaging 34.3 minutes, and he had some great looks that just didn’t fall.
“You look at the stat sheet, too many guys that honestly didn’t do the things that they need to do to help us win,” Barnes said.
Carey was a bright spot in Tennessee’s frontcourt with 11 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. But Barnes believes he can be even better after shooting 3-for-6 on free throws.
“The guys that want to learn from this will do it,” Barnes said. “And they’ll get better and move forward, but it’s not going to get any easier, which is the way it should be.”
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe
