The key stat of the game was that Tennessee shot 37.9% in the second half, versus 56% for the Hogs. This is a direct reflection of Mike’s philosophy. Even though we didn’t really get the pace of the game completely to our liking. (We did at the end, thank goodness). We still impacted the opposition 2nd half FG percentage. I always watch that…and it was arguably the key factor today. That, and our big 4…especially Macon and Barford…heating up.
If we had hit our FT’s we win without OT.
This is a good point and it gets overlooked. We bemoan our depth but, typically we are much deeper than our opponents and in a pressure cooker with fresher players we often see teams cool off late.
You have it right. The free throw shooting and rebounding need to improve! The Vols lost their legs in regulation and that affected the defense and was the main factor causing those big 4 Vols to foul out!
Our turnovers enabled Tennessee to maintain tempo in the first half. We had a few in the second half where we pasted up a good shot to throw the ball away!
If we take care of the ball it won’t have to be this hard! Man it’s great to get the win.
Now it’s Moooo U in Starkville Tuesday.