BasketVols. Tennessee VS. LSU In SEC Road Opener.

On Jarnell Stokes's 20th birthday, the Vols traveled to Louisiana for the SEC opener against the Tigers. These two teams were both expected to finish 3rd and 4th in the SEC and go dancing in March. The Tigers were coming of an embarrassing defeat against a small but talented Rhode Island school. The Vols were riding on a 3 game winning streak against weaker opponents in Moorehead State, Tuscalum, and a blowout win against a really good Virginia squad.

Tennessee broke open a back-and-forth game late in the first half with a flurry of 3-pointers on the way to its biggest halftime lead in nearly two years and never eased up against LSU in a 68-50 triumph.

Tennessee used smothering defense and red-hot 3-point shooting to take a 38-24 halftime lead. LSU made just 34 percent (11-of-32) of its first half shots. Meanwhile, the Volunteers made seven first-half shots from behind the arc -- four by Barton.

Tennessee took the lead for good at 15-12 on a D'Montre Edwards 3-pointer with 11:58 remaining in the first half. The Vols (10-4, 1-0 SEC) got 19 points from Jordan McRae, 14 from Antonio Barton (12 in the opening half on four 3-pointers) and a ho-hum double-double from human rebounding machine Jarnell Stokes (15 points, 15 rebounds), his seventh this seaosn and the 25th of his three-year career.

The Volunteers protected their double-digit lead throughout the second half. In the first eight minutes after halftime, LSU cut its deficit to a dozen points on three occasions. Each time, Tennessee answered with a basket -- twice by birthday boy Stokes. The Vols pounded the backboards to the tune of 40-28, led by Stokes' 7 on offense and 8 on defense.

Jordan Mickey was again the best offensive weapon for LSU (9-4, 0-1) with 14 points and he also rejected 5 shots. Johnny O'Bryant bounced back from a second-half benching three nights earlier to contribute 11 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.

The Tigers lost back-to-back games for the first time this season and this one was as thorough as any they have absorbed by a long stretch. The same problems that plagued the Tigers in an unexpected 74-70 loss to Rhode Island last Saturday in their final non-conference game reared up again, this time against a much more talented and veteran Tennessee team that may be playing as well as it has all season.


The first half was competitive until the closing minutes despite the Tigers' shooting woes. The Vols eviscerated LSU's defense with the same slow-paced approach. With the Tigers honed in on not allowing McRae to erupt after he scored a career-best 34 points against them last season, he became a distributor early on.  He recorded four of his five assists in the first half, three to Barton who peppered LSU with four 3s -- three in the last 6:23 before halftime, which started the unclimbable mountain for LSU in the 2nd half.

Now the Tigers head out on the road, with a game at South Carolina (12:30 p.m. | SECTV) in Columbia, Mo. The Vols (10-4) will face off against The Texas A&M Aggies (9-4) back home in Knoxville, Saturday, January 11, 2014 - 6:00 PM ET airing on ESPN3

The Vols are starting to look like the top 25 team they were projected to be preseason. With balanced scoring, a smothering defense, an insane duo in Stokes and Maymon under the goal, arguably the best player in the SEC in Jordan Mcrea, and surprise contributions from players like Antonio Barton, the Vols are poised to compete toe to toe against the rest of the SEC and come out on top. Coach Martin needs a NCAA tourney trip this year after disappointing NIT departures the last two seasons, and this team is capable of playing deep into the tournament.

The problem is no one ever knows what team we will see take the floor on any given night, extreme highs and disappointing lows. If the Vols keep playing games like they did against Virginia and LSU, expect a very interesting season and a good bid going into the NCAA Tourney.

Tennessee Volunteers 2013 Game by Game Predictions

Football season is almost here! (thank you lord), and the Vols have a new coach, a new defense, and a new excitement in the fanbase. Now is as good a time as any to look at the new season and to preview the 2013 schedule.

TENNESSEE 2013 SCHEDULE
Aug. 31 - Austin Peay
Sept. 7 - Western Kentucky
Sept. 14 - at Oregon
Sept. 21 - at Florida
Sept. 28 - South Alabama
Oct. 5 - Georgia
Oct. 19 - South Carolina
Oct. 26 - at Alabama
Nov. 2 - at Missouri
Nov. 9 - Auburn
Nov 23 - Vanderbilt
Nov. 30 - at Kentucky

Tennessee has hired former Cincinnati head coach Butch Jones. Former coach Derek Dooley left him a cupboard that was far from bare,and Jones has proven he can win big games. Coach Jones has brought new life to the fanbase and recruits alike. The Vols now boast the #1 recruiting class for the 2014 season.

Tennessee will switch back to a 4-3 defense after one year of the 3-4. Last years defense was quite possibly the worst defense the Vols have ever put on the field. The 4-3 should improve the overall defense as just about anything would be better than last years disaster.

There will be a new quarterback heading the offense this year. Justin Worley has had some in game experience, but mobility isn't one of his strong suits. Nathan Peterman is a mobile quarterback that could very well fit into Jones's fast paced offense a little better than a strait pocket QB.

Aug. 31 - Austin Peay
August 31st starts the season against Austin Peay, this should be no more than a glorified practice and should give everyone an idea of what type of offensive plays and defensive schemes we can look forward to the rest of the season.

Sept. 7 - Western Kentucky
Western Kentucky is a very interesting game. I thought that Tennessee should have given Petrino more interest during the coaching search than they did. He is a proven winner and has done more with less talent. WKU has a SEC caliber running back and will be ready to fight it out. The talent level difference is why I think UT will get this one, I do believe it will turn out to be a whole lot closer than most fans want to believe.

Sept. 14 - at Oregon
It 's a little unfortunate for the Vols that this game showed up on the schedule this season. In a rebuilding stage with a new coach isn't the best position to be in going up against Oregon in Eugene. I do think that UT can and should keep this game within a respectable range, and most fans will be OK with a 7-10 point loss. What they can't do is get blown out, to get deflated so early in the season going into SEC play could be devastating. I'm not conceding anything and I believe miracles happen, but it would take one for the Vols to pull a win here.

Sept. 21 - at Florida
I'm still not sold on Muschamp being the coach the Gators keep for the long haul. They got embarrassed by Louisville and looked like they could fall apart at any moment last year, but they didn't, and 11 wins in the SEC can't be ignored.Tennessee hasn't beat the Gators in almost a decade, sadly, the streak will more than likely continue in 2013.

Sept. 28 - South Alabama
South Alabama will be a good game to get all of the frustrations out after the Florida game.

Oct. 5 - Georgia
Tennessee vs. UGA is a great tradition game, and UT could have won this game last year if they had anything resembling a defense on the field. I like to think of this as something of a "question mark" game. UGA has better talent and more success recently, but if Tennessee gets some calls and a couple of turnovers, this game could go either way.

Oct. 19 - South Carolina
I'm in the minority thinking Tennessee will win this game outright, but I do. I really think this is a must win game for Coach Jones. Coming into this game with a probable record of 3-3 with no wins in the SEC, a win here could be the turning point in the season. What "The Ole' Ball Coach" has done for the Gamecocks is amazing, and they will have another great team this season. South Carolina is the best chance for Jones to pull an upset in the SEC, something Dooley could never do. This game will be the deciding factor for a successful season or a disappointing one.

Oct. 26 - at Alabama
Nothing to see here, maybe in a couple of years.

Nov. 2 - at Missouri
Tennessee lost in OT last year to the Tigers after dominating the first half. Many people, myself included, think the game was lost due mostly to coaching incompetence. That won't be the case this year.  Mizzou is in over its head playing in the SEC, and Tennessee should be angry and vengeful after playing Bama the week before.

Nov. 9 - Auburn
If there was any team as disappointing as UT last year, it was Auburn. The Tigers have a new coach with a lot of intensity and ties to the school as an Offensive Coordinator. This is another "question mark" game, I think this game could go either way depending on the seasons each have had up to this point.

Nov. 23 - Vanderbilt
I don't understand the national attention Vanderbilt has been getting. I realize every dog has his day, and Vandy won a bowl game last year, but they didn't beat anybody that was any good. They did blow UT out, but it was the worst Tennessee team that ever took the field. I'm not afraid of Franklin and Vandy, and I don't think Coach Jones and the Tennessee team is either. UT wins this one big and proves a point.

Nov. 30 - at Kentucky
Stoops has been selling air to recruits and doing it well. I think that he could be the Wildcats savior, just not this year. Tennessee will win this game, but the Wildcats will be good in the near future if Stoops hangs around. 

The Vols should make a bowl this season, and the fans will be happy if they do. 6-6 and a bowl win would give so much hope to the Vol fans, and it isn't a reachable goal, it is a minimum standard. Anything less than 6 wins would be underachieving considering we have 3 easy OOC games and the last half of the season has 4 very winnable conference games.





 

Tennessee self-reports NCAA violations

Tennessee has self-reported seven NCAA secondary violations, including two in football.

One of the football violations involved a prospect making an unofficial visit before he had completed his first year at a junior college. The unnamed prospect visited several other schools, who were also unaware of his status.

In the other violation, a prospect making an unofficial visit attended an off-campus meal at Calhoun’s on the River intended only for official visitors, causing the staff to exceed the permissible number of off-campus contacts.

Swimming coach Tyler Fenwick, who texted recruits he had coached at his previous job at a private club in California, said he was unaware that he was committing a violation. Fenwick was banned from telephone contact with recruits for 14 days and UT was banned from contacting the recruits in question for 30 days.

Michael Beaumont,the current women’s basketball director of operations, handed out cash for meals during a trip to Arkansas, he used the per diem rate for Knoxville, not Fayetteville. Each player received $3 more than permissible for their lunch.

Men’s tennis coach Sam Winterbotham inadvertently paid for a breakfast that had been charged to the room of a visiting student-athlete. The amount paid was donated to a charity.

All the violations occurred since March.

Universities routinely self-report secondary violations to their conference offices and the NCAA. In most cases, the SEC and NCAA accept the university’s self-imposed punishments and take no further action. The university's compliance department posted the violations and subsequent punishments on its website. Coaches went through additional rules education, but UT said the mistake was inadvertent and no recruiting advantage was gained.