Can the Tennessee Volunteers Bounce Back?

On February 4th, the Tennessee Vols overcame the Crimson Tide in a close game, 69-68 in Coleman Coliseum. Previously, on January 15th, the Tide had taken down #4 Auburn and gave them their first loss of the season. Many questioned whether UT would be able to stick with the top teams in the SEC this year after the loss of Grant Williams, Jordan Bone, Admiral Schofield, and Kyle Alexander to the NBA. Questions were raised as to who would fill those huge roles on this 2018-2019 NCAA tournament team. Head coach Rick Barnes knew that this would be a building year with hopes of senior guard Lamonte Turner leading this Volunteer team with many returning players who had played less than 100 minutes in the 2018-19 season and the incoming freshman class with no collegiate experience. Sadly, Turner suffered from chronic shoulder pain and underwent surgery on his shoulder that ended his career as a Vol. The Vols struggled after the loss of their starting guard, but figured it out in the coming weeks.  Upperclassmen, Jordan Bowden, John Fulkerson, and Yves Pons have all taken their games to the next level along with the freshman from Uruguay, Santiago Vescovi. Although they have made strides toward playing better basketball within the past few weeks, Barnes is still not satisfied, but what coach is?

The Volunteers are now 13-10 and 5-5 in the Southeastern Conference making their way into the second round of SEC play with Arkansas this Tuesday at 7 p.m E.T on SEC Network . According to ESPN, they are tied for 4th in the conference. After all the questions regarding the Tennessee Basketball program’s performance this year, I would say they aren't doing too shabby considering the losses they have suffered leading up to this season and the rise in competitiveness in the SEC over the past few years.

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