Mike Strange: Can the Vols shoot their way clear?

Basketball is a lovely game to watch when people make baskets. When they don't, it gets complicated, sometimes downright ugly.

Coach Rick Barnes lamented the Vols' porous defense after a 14-point second-half lead disappeared Saturday in a 76-75 loss to Georgia. The Vols played Washington Generals to J.J. Frazier's Curly Neal in the second half.

Defense and rebounding win championships, they say. Maybe so, but it was the inability to make a basket that bothered me.

Tennessee led 57-51 on a Robert Hubbs III shot with 10:37 to play. After which, the Vols bricked 14 of their next 15 shots. They missed inside, they missed outside. When the fog cleared Georgia led 70-64. The damage was done.

The Vols go to Kentucky on Tuesday night. I'm not sure what Tennessee teams have collectively shot in Rupp Arena over the years but, aside from Bernard King and Chris Lofton nearly 20 years apart, I doubt it's a high percentage. It will take a remarkable effort on both ends of the court to replicate the 82-80 win over the Wildcats in Knoxville last month.

On the whole, this UT team has been entertaining. The Vols are averaging 77 points a game, the highest average since 2008-09 when Bruce Pearl was packing in crowds.

In the 31 years of the 3-point shot era, only 11 other UT teams have scored at a higher clip. Pearl accounts for four of the 11, all NCAA tournament seasons. But Wade Houston's teams also account for four, proof scoring isn't enough by itself.

This team (like every team everywhere?) is prone to fluctuations on shooting, particularly from the 3-point line.

Tennessee is 10-1 when hitting at least 35.7 percent from the arc. It has been capable of brilliant marksmanship, four times making at least 50 percent from the 3-point line.

There have also been games when the Vols couldn't stand on the arena catwalk and hit the court below. The team that tied a school record with 16 treys against Presbyterian went 1 of 16 against Chattanooga and 1 of 11 against South Carolina.

"All our guards, really, you look at their shooting percentage and it's not indicative of what we think they can do,'' Barnes said Monday. "I still do think we're capable of making enough threes that we need to make.''

At 34 percent, the Vols rank 224th out of 351 teams in 3-point shooting.That's actually UT's best figure since 2012 and second best in the past nine seasons post-Lofton.

However, last week, with the weight of hard-earned NCAA tournament expectations bearing down, it was a struggle.Tennessee shot 30.8 percent from the arc in a grinding win over Ole Miss and 28.6 percent against Georgia.

The emergence of freshman Grant Williams – co-SEC freshman of the week – in the paint is a promising development. But it won't be maximized if the guards can't stretch the defense.

"Now we go into every game,'' Barnes said, "fully expecting the other team to double-team our  post players.''

Who's going to do the stretching?

Shembari Phillips is hitting 50 percent from the arc but his minutes have been limited lately. Admiral Schofield checks in at a healthy 44.8 percent in selective attempts. Lamonte Turner's 37.5 percent must be respected.

On the other hand, Jordan Bowden is at 32.3 percent, Jordan Bone a chilly 20.7 percent. Hubbs has found fertile ground inside the arc but is stone cold at 13.6 percent outside it.

If you're thinking Detrick Mostella would be handy about now, you're right. But that ship has sailed.

The hope is that Bowden and Bone overcome freshman funk and warm up for a big finish. Barnes is mystified by Bone's shooting numbers compared to what he sees in practice.

With three weeks left in the regular season, Tennessee's opportunities are dwindling. Defense and rebounding remain essential. Still, draining a few threes would do wonders.

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