MIKE STRANGE

Mike Strange: Vols regressing in SEC play

Mike Strange
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee
Tennessee's Grant Williams is pressured South Carolina players, from left, PJ Dozier, Sedee Keita, Ran Tut, and Justin McKie in the first half of the game at Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday.

This isn't how it was supposed to work.

Tennessee's young basketball team won hearts and minds by surpassing expectations in November and December. They didn't beat the four ranked teams on a brutal early schedule but they hung tough with them.

They were there in overtime with Oregon. They were there at the final possession at North Carolina. They battled back from big deficits against Wisconsin and Gonzaga to make it interesting.

The logical assumption? Great preparation for the SEC season.

Well, the SEC season is here and it's not going so hot. Since opening league play with a win at Texas A&M on Dec. 29, the Vols have lost three in a row.

They lost at home to Arkansas. They lost at Florida. Then Wednesday night, they lost to South Carolina, 70-60, trailing virtually from start to finish in a brutally ugly 40 minutes at Thompson-Boling Arena. (Box score)

If the lumps the Vols took battling sneaker to sneaker with  non-conference heavyweights prepared them for the conference grind, it hasn't been evident since they left College Station, Texas, on Cloud Nine.

So here Tennessee sits at 8-8, 1-3 SEC. It wouldn't be so disappointing if the Vols hadn't raised hopes with bursts of outstanding play in those early-season marquee games.

"This league is better than people think it is,'' coach Rick Barnes said Wednesday night.

Maybe. Maybe not. The consensus nationally has been that once you get past Kentucky, there isn't an outstanding SEC team. Florida might turn out to be outstanding.

South Carolina, too. The Gamecocks (13-3) are really good defensively and they're 3-0 to open SEC play for the first time in 20 years.

From a South Carolina perspective, this is more like what coach Frank Martin had in mind when he left a good Kansas State job five years ago to rebuild a floundering Gamecocks program. His teams won only 14 games each of his first two years, then 17, then 25 last year.

Being 3-0 "won't help Saturday against Ole Miss," Martin said, but he conceded this: "Don't think I don't sit at home and feel real good about the direction we're headed compared to where we were four years ago.''

Barnes doesn't feel so good about Tennessee's direction compared to where the Vols were four weeks ago.

Losing energetic freshman forward John Fulkerson to a season-ending injury didn't help. Neither did Detrick Mostella getting dismissed Tuesday night.

Mostella, on good nights, could be instant offense off the bench and the Vols could have used some of that against Carolina.

UT shot 24 percent from the field the first half and "warmed up" to finish at 32.7 percent. The Vols missed their first 10 3-point tries before Lamonte Turner got a friendly bounce with 1:48 to play.

Worst of all, the Vols committed 22 turnovers ... which was exactly how many South Carolina committed.

"Between turnovers, fouls and bad decisions, we made this a prehistoric game,'' Martin said, speaking on behalf of both teams.

"That,'' observed Barnes, "was a thing of beauty wasn't it? Coming in I knew it would be an ugly game because teams would get after you.''

Which leads back to Tennessee's swoon. The Vols weren't ready to be gotten after.

"Our guard play has regressed, I'll tell you that,'' Barnes said. "Maybe it's my fault for trying to get (Jordan) Bone back in there quicker than he was ready.''

Bone, a freshman point guard, was the opening-night starter. But he missed nine games because of stress fracture. Since returning for SEC play, he has struggled to make up the lost ground. His Wednesday? Five turnovers and 3-of-10 shooting.

"It's obvious,'' Barnes said, "teams are teeing up against us on the perimeter.''

And it's obviously paying off. Next up, back on the road at Vanderbilt on Saturday and Ole Miss next week.

"We're four games in,'' Barnes said. "We'll find a way.''

Tennessee looked closer to finding a way a month ago.

Mike Strange may be reached at mike.strange@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at Strangemike44.

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