Horse thieves! Tennessee burgles its way to a 77-58 win over Wyoming

by Joel Hollingsworth on Dec 15, 2009 10:32 PM EST in Tennessee Volunteer Basketball

The Tennessee Volunteers rode 29 turnovers to a 77-58 victory over the Wyoming Cowboys this evening at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Bruce Pearl tried to tell Vol fans that it would be a game, and although the final score really doesn't suggest that it was, Pearl was right. At least for a half. In fact, for half of the half, it wasn't just a game, it was Wyoming's game.

The Cowboys came out pistols smoking and opened up with a 7-0 lead. Tennessee spent five minutes ducking for cover, and when they finally warmed up, they began to pull away. But about eight minutes in, the Vols got stuck on a plateau that seemed to vanish into the horizon. From the 12:03 mark to the 5:47 mark, the Big Orange managed only to suck a measly two points worth of liquid out of a spent cactus. Meanwhile, the Cowboys kept joy-riding into the sunset, going from behind seven to in front by nine. Somehow, though, the Vols persisted and narrowed the gap by the half, heading into the locker room up, 42-41.

At that point, Wyoming had completely outshot and outrebounded our guys, but we'd been able to keep things even thanks to 25 points off of 16 turnovers to Wyoming's eight points off of seven. And then in the second half, Tennessee simply pulled away, putting more and more distance between themselves and the Cowboys as the game marched toward its end.

This evening's result was truly a team effort, with Scotty Hopson, Wayne Chism, and Tyler Smith getting 14, 13, and 10 points each, Bobby Maze and Brian Williams each getting 9, and Cameron Tatum and Melvin Goins each contributing 7. Smith also had six assists, two steals, and a block.

Mostly, though, it was the Vols' defense and their ability to create turnovers and capitalize on them that won them the game. The Tennessee players were equal opportunity burglars, forcing eight different guys into multiple turnovers, but they did give some extra attention to Afam Muojeke, whom they forced to give them gifts of double digits.

Tennessee is now 8-1 with two games to go before the season shifts into overdrive with a visit to Memphis on New Year's Eve.

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Great second half

The first half was a mix of very good and very bad.

Couple things to add to your summary:

*We were down ten at one point (35-25). From then until we cleared the bench in the last two minutes, we outscored them 50-20. That sort of response is what we need to see.

*J.P. Prince followed his game of the season with another great performance. He only had four points, but they were key, including the bucket that broke Wyoming’s 17-2 run and put our deficit back in single digits. He also led the team in assists (6) and was one off the lead (Williams) in rebounding (6).

*Hopson’s second half was what we thought we were going to get consistently. Hopefully we’ll start getting it consistently. The desire for consistency applies to Pajamas too.

*Brian Williams sucks at layups. He misses more than anyone I’ve ever seen. But he still managed to have himself a pretty nice game. 9 points and 7 boards.

Let’s take that second half to USC on Saturday!

by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 16, 2009 1:01 AM EST reply actions

JP can really show off his talent

I just wish he would show it off more often.

Williams made some great moves in the paint, but he has NO touch whatesoever. I’m not going to complain too much considering how far he has come, and his contributions in other ways – such as offensive rebuonding where he is great!

by golfballs03 on Dec 16, 2009 1:13 PM EST up reply actions

Hopson and Tyler

Hopson:
He appears to have mostly shed himself of last year’s on-court shyness (for lack of a better term), and is now really assertive on the court. He looks for his shot. He looks to take the ball to the hole. And he is beginning to realize that it’s easy for him (to shed a defender and take the ball to the rack). My favorite single story of this year’s team is Hopson’s considerable improvement. Much like The Waterboy when he was alone in his room with a bare-chested Vicky Valencourt, I appreciate what Hopson is showing me right now. And he will continue to improve.

Tyler:
I thought Tyler was a reasonably seasoned player last year. I even considered the possibility that he had peaked as a player. Wrong I was. I really loved the two or three instances tonight where Tyler essentially played point guard. I thought the play of the night was when he went coast to coast all the way to teh rack and finished with a nice scoopy-ish layin. His court vision has never been called into question by anybody, but it does allow him to find the open man and get the assists that he does. I think his unselfishness is contagious too.

Tyler is the one player we really can’t afford to lose to an injury. I hate to inject negativity in my comment, but the positive spin on my previous statement is that Tyler is just that good and valuable to our team. And that we should enjoy Tyler — and this team — while we can. Because I think this team, if they keep progressing and improving as the year goes on, could end up being Pearl’s best.

...just apologize for not thanking me.

by kidbourbon on Dec 16, 2009 1:54 AM EST reply actions

Yeah..

I agree on both your assessments. Tyler really impressed me with how he seemed to actually be running the game at times, and the announcers commented on it as well. Plus, I really like the beard!

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti

by sddbaker on Dec 16, 2009 2:42 PM EST up reply actions