SEC Notebook
Brent Beaird, SEC Columnist
The growing pains are evident for coach Cuonzo Martin’s
Tennessee (8-10, 1-3) basketball team. Yet, the Vols are
consistently in every game with a chance to win. For example, they
lost a 57-53 heartbreaker on the road at Georgia Wednesday night in
overtime. Tennessee had chances to win games in the final minute
against Memphis (99-97 double-overtime, in the EA Sports Maui
Invitational), Pittsburgh (61-56), Austin Peay (74-70), Mississippi
State (62-58) and last Saturday against No. 2 Kentucky
(65-62). In fact, the Vols are 2-9 in games decided by
10 points or less.
Their defense has kept them in games. In SEC play, Vol opponents
are scoring 61.0 points a game, shooting only 40.6 percent from the
field and 32.6 percent from 3-point range. One notable adjustment
was inserting Josh Richardson and Renaldo Woolridge into the
starting lineup for SEC play. Richardson is considered a solid
defensive player and Woolridge is a high energy player.
The biggest recent change for the Vols is the addition of Jarnell
Stokes, a late December signee. Stokes, who is from Memphis, played
17 minutes, scored nine points and added four rebounds in loss to
Kentucky. He scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the
Georgia loss. Jeronne Maymon and Kenny Hall are also improving.
Maymon had 40 points and 21 rebounds against Florida, Mississippi
State and Kentucky. Hall has come off the bench to score 33 points
and grab 11 rebounds against the same trio.
Tennessee has a severe challenge on Saturday against UConn.
Regardless, Martin has this team playing competitive basketball.
They are a tough out at the moment.
Required Reading
Florida’s Patric Young will have some time to rest his injured
foot.
SEC coaches are impressed with the Vols
Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes is attracting attention
What I knew
Most SEC observers know that veteran players do not stay in a
slump very long. Mississippi State Dee Bost, a senior guard, has
been money for his team lately. Bost had just 13 points in
State’s 62-58 win over Tennessee, but made the game's crucial
play, stealing the ball from Tennessee's Trae Golden and scoring on
a breakaway dunk with four seconds remaining to seal the win. A few
days later in the Alabama game, State MSU shot just 3 of 17 from
outside the arc, but it was Bost who made three 3-pointers in the
game's final four minutes to spark the Bulldogs to their second
straight win. He scored 15 points and six assists in the loss at
Ole Miss on Wednesday night.
What I should have known
The Commodores had to rebound at some point, right? I should have
known that Vandy
would pick up the pace. They certainly have done so
winning eight straight after a resounding win at Alabama.
How have they done it? Look no further than Jeffery Taylor and John
Jenkins.
Taylor became just the ninth player in Commodore history to score
over 1,600 points with his 16-point performance in the most recent
win over Georgia. Taylor now at 1,604 career points trails Charles
Davis by 71 points for 8th in Vanderbilt's all-time scoring list.
Jenkins passed Jeff Turner for 24th place on the scoring list. He
currently has 1,260 career points. Despite Taylor's struggles at
the free throw line he became just the seventh Commodore ever to
convert on 400 or more free shots with 402 for his career. Only
A.J. Ogilvy has attempted more free throws as a Commodore than
Taylor since 1966. Vandy has won its first three SEC contests by 10
points or more for the first time since the 1955-56 season.
Stat of the Week:
Kentucky has held its last 51 opponents under 50 percent shooting
from the field.
ODDS AND ENDS
DUAL SPORTS:
Brandon Mitchell, the Hog backup quarterback, is giving basketball
another try. He was on the bench for Saturday’s victory
against LSU and has begun working out with the team this week.
BLOCK PARTY:
Kentucky leads the nation in blocked shots with 9.3 per game,
mostly due to freshman Anthony Davis averaging 4.6 blocks per
contest. Davis has shattered the Wildcats single-season record for
blocks of 83 by Melvin Turpin in 1982-83. He has 89 through 18
games.
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Brent Beaird writes for Lindyssports.com, Gator Bait magazine and
Samssportsline.com. He can be heard on 1010XL sports radio in
Jacksonville, Florida. Brent, who is a Heisman Trophy voter,
can be contacted at brentbeaird@comcast.net
