NCAA Tournament 2019: Top takeaways from 2nd half of Round of 32 games

1) The good and bad of Tennessee, as summed up in one game

Few teams have been as polarizing as Tennessee this season.

They were the No. 1 team in the country for a month – supporters pointed to their dominant victories, detractors pointed to their (relative) lack of competition.

The Vols then closed the season going 6-4 in their last 10 games – supporters pointed to them losing three of those games on the road to good teams (all are also in the Sweet 16), detractors pointed to their lack of success against quality competition.

Tennessee gave both their supporters and detractors reason to think the way they do about the Vols. For the first 20 minutes, Tennessee was dominating every phase of the game the way you’d expect the No. 1 team in the country and built a 25-point lead in just 15 minutes.

In the second half, however, the Vols showed all their flaws. They were stagnant offensively, exploited on the perimeter defensively, and weren’t playing with the same level of intensity they were in the first half.

Tennessee’s experience – and Grant Williams – helped them regain their composure to win in overtime but this game showed exactly who the Vols are.

When they’re engaged, work through both Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield offensively, and are able to get out in transition, they’re fantastic. But when their intensity level drops, they’re not a great defensive team and they can’t really rely on their guards to consistently produce offensively.

Is Tennessee good enough to make the Final Four? Absolutely. But their flaws could just as easily cause them to come up short – especially if they end up playing a Virginia team that is excellent and exploiting weaknesses.