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Tennessee Basketball: Volunteers should be encouraged despite UNC loss

By Holden Walter-Warner

KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 17: Tennessee Volunteers players celebrate after a turnover in the first half of a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 17, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 17: Tennessee Volunteers players celebrate after a turnover in the first half of a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 17, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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The Tennessee Volunteers dropped a close one against the North Carolina Tar Heels, but the SEC team’s future remains bright.

Three minutes and fifty-two seconds into Sunday’s game, the Tennessee Volunteers took a 10-8 lead. They didn’t cede that lead to the North Carolina Tar Heels for 24 minutes.

While Tennessee controlled most of the game, they couldn’t close the deal in their biggest home game in years. North Carolina stole the road victory, 78-73.

Despite the defeat, there are a lot of positive facets for the Vols to build upon.

For starters, it was only the Vols’ second loss of the first season. The first came to the Villanova Wildcats. There’s no shame in losing to either one of those teams.

North Carolina looked sloppy out of the gate, but Tennessee’s defense was responsible for some of that play. The Vols forced the Tar Heels into 12 first-half turnovers. North Carolina only committed four in the second half, though.

Tennessee should also be encouraged by their fan support, even if that’s a less tangible thing to hold on to. Thompson-Boling Arena was rocking, with fan frustration over the football program turning into downright delirium for the surprising basketball team. It felt reminiscent of the Bruce Pearl era.

The Volunteers will have to look inward to question where their offense went in the second half. They missed 24 of their last 31 shots, making just three field goals in the final ten minutes of the game. Even still, senior James Daniel III was able to provide 14 points off the bench, his highest scoring output of the season.

Coach Rick Barnes will eventually implement a plan to close out games, so the Volunteers don’t falter at the end like they did on Sunday.

“I don’t think we have to play perfect to win a game like this,” Barnes said postgame (h/t Knoxville News Sentinel). “But the fact is we had a chance, and when we had the lead, we didn’t do what we needed to do when we got the lead. That will always come back to offensive execution.”

Still, this was a team without a star, projected to finish near the bottom of the SEC. Assuming they can beat Furman and Wake Forest, the Vols will enter SEC play with a 9-2 record and likely an AP Poll ranking.

Next: Key storylines for December

Excitement should run high in Knoxville right now.

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