Vols Must Make a Statement Against Kentucky
Image: on3.com
By Jonathan Reed
Tennessee missed a golden opportunity for one of the biggest wins in program history.
The Vols pulled Auburn down into the mud. Rick Barnes left a puddle of water on the court after slamming his bottle in disgust following an atrocious, game-changing call as his squad was clinging to a late lead. The refs then swallowed their whistle on Igor Milicic’s drive to the basket. Zakai Zeigler missed a three coming out of a timeout, and the game ended.
Bruce Pearl and his Tigers escaped, bloody and dirty.
Vol fans are left debating the validity of moral victories.
Are we above those at this point of Rick Barnes’s tenure? It’s not like many people were expecting a win on the road against the number one team in the country, but, ironically, that’s when you expect The Deacon and his boys to shock the world.
Saturday night’s game script played out like a win. It wasn’t.
Now, Tennessee is left jumbled in a cluster of three-loss SEC teams and in search of a spark.
The good news is that opportunity is now here.
The Volunteers, despite their recent road losses, have three straight ranked wins at home. They have three straight ranked opponents coming to Knoxville over the next 8 days. If this team still has hopes to land a 1 seed, all three games better be wins for the Big Orange.
It starts tonight inside the TBAaFCC.
Kentucky is first up, and they’re reeling as losers of two in a row. The “at least he’s not John Calipari” vibes are still high, but, at a certain point wins have to follow.
It’s not a must win game for either team by any means, but the winner will feel like they’ve righted the ship; the loser will leave the game broken with doubts about how the rest of their season will play out. You want your team to be on the right side.
The early season success will be negated by dropping this one to a Kentucky team that you should beat. Tennessee is favored by 10.5s Kentucky will be shorthanded with the news coming out that San Diego State transfer Lamont Butler will be out due to a shoulder injury.
There was a time when Tennessee beating Kentucky would be seen as monumental. That time has passed. It’s not unusual. It’s expected. Rick Barnes changed those expectations. He’s now got to live up to them.
This is life as the premier basketball program in the SEC.
The Knoxville crowd desperately needs a throwback performance. It’s been too calm so far this season. I understand that it may be unreasonable to ask for a raucous environment in a midweek game against Georgia and Mississippi State. That’s not the case against Kentucky, no matter who is on the sideline or what the point spread is. We are asking the team to make a statement. The fans need to do the same thing.
There is blueblood in the water. It’s time to find out if we have any sharks.