Defense, rebounding tell story of UT, Mississippi State

Mississippi State plays for a share of its first SEC women’s basketball regular season championship Sunday against Tennessee, a program with 18 such titles but now mired in the middle of the conference standings.

There’s several reasons for the role reversal and what might happen at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss. (TV: ESPN2, 5 p.m. EST). But two statistics, in particular, distinguish the current difference between the two teams.

No. 2/3 Mississippi State (27-2, 13-2 SEC) is first in the league in scoring defense, allowing 54.3 points per game on average. The Bulldogs also are second in rebounding margin at plus-7.3. Tennessee (18-10, 9-6), on the other hand, is 12th in scoring defense (65.7) and seventh in rebounding margin (plus-3.2).

Lady Vols assistant coach Dean Lockwood said Friday that proficiency in defense and rebounding are reliable predictors of championship performance.

“If I’m in the insurance business,” Lockwood said, “I’m telling you this: you’re going to pay lesser rates if you’re high in defense and rebounding than if you’re high in turnovers or field goal percentage offense, something like that.

“I trust defense and rebounding for winning championships.”

Tennessee has built the foundation of its program upon these qualities. Cracks hadn’t been apparent on defense. For example, last season’s team allowed 59 points per game, which ranks 10th in UT history and within percentage points of the 2007-08 national championship team’s average (58.6). The 2014-15 team ranks second in this category (56.3).

Regarding rebounding, Tennessee tracks rebound average and total rebounds on a season-by-season basis. UT’s current average of 41.5 ranks in the bottom 10, slightly better than last season’s 41.1. The average, though, is second among SEC teams this season. Furthermore, UT ranks first in defensive rebounds (28.9).

Conversely the Lady Vols rank last in the conference in rebounding defense (38.3) and seventh in defensive rebounding percentage (.680). Alabama and Florida have gathered 22 and 21 offensive rebounds respectively against Tennessee this season, totals that Lockwood bemoaned as being “horrible.”

UT’s offensive rebounding percentage, which compares its offensive rebounds to the opponent’s defensive boards, ranks 10th (.337).

“I think we’ve gotten better at keeping people in front of us,” UT coach Holly Warlick said on Saturday. “I think we can continue to get better. Definitely can get better on rebounding, both ends of the floor. We give up way too many offensive rebounds, which has led to way too many points.”

Lockwood equates defense and rebounding with toughness and determination. He traces Tennessee’s inconsistency to something as fundamental as boxing out or crouching and staying in a defensive stance.

“Playing in a stance is hard,” he said. “It’s gritty, tough, very, very grind-it-out type of work. Some of our personality, at times, is not that.”

Lockwood drew on his formative years in Bay City, Mich., for another of his colorful analogies. He recalled the juxtaposition of a country club with some manual laborers.

“What a difference on a July day,” he said. “You have people sipping drinks on a pool deck. And 350 yards away, you have guys sweating in long sleeves, jeans and hard hats, digging irrigation ditches for farm fields.

“That’s two different summers…we’re on the pool deck at times.”

The Lady Vols did some hard work, though, in their first meeting with Mississippi State. They outrebounded the Bulldogs 48-39, gathering a season-high 16 offensive rebounds. UT held Mississippi State to 37.1 percent shooting and led until Blair Schaefer freed herself to hit a clutch 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 39 seconds left. The Bulldogs capped a 74-64 victory with eight free throws in the final minute.

The effort reflected Lockwood’s overview, which weighs Tennessee’s capability against its reliability.

“We have the capacity to do it,” he said. “But my point is you have to be willing to do that all the time.”

Alexa Middleton, for one, has demonstrated a willingness to improve. Tennessee’s junior guard literally has heard what the opposition thinks of her as a defender and doesn’t like it.

“I always hear teams when I’m in front of their bench playing defense saying ‘go at her’ and that fuels me,” she said. “I know my defense isn’t perfect or anywhere near perfect, but I’m trying to focus on angles, staying in front and being determined.

“I think it has gotten better, and I will easily tell you that I am proud of that because people try to come at me. I’m trying to be better at that.”

Middleton’s defense helped seal Thursday’s 74-70 comeback victory over Florida on Thursday. With Tennessee leading by three points inside the final 15 seconds, she stayed with quicker guard Delicia Washington until she missed a 3-pointer. Middleton described the play afterward as the best defense she’s ever played.

“We’ve worked on it and worked on it,” Warlick said, “and she’s gotten better.”

Middleton has set a worthy example for the team.

“You have two things,” Lockwood said, “You can make excuses or make progress. Make progress.”