NEW YORK, N.Y. — Trailing by seven points in the final minute Tennessee basketball missed a trio of three-pointers on the same possession as they desperately made attempted to make a miracle push.
It was a fitting way for Tennessee’s season to end as the Vols’ offense failed to hit shots when they needed them. Florida Atlantic made shots when they needed to in the second half, pushing the Owls to a 62-55 victory.
Here’s three quick takeaways on a season ending loss.
Tennessee’s Defense Holds Up Its End Of The Bargain
Tennessee’s defense is what got them to Madison Square Garden. They leaned on it again heavily against Florida Atlantic in the Sweet 16.
The Vols dictated the game’s pace in the first half and played strong defense to hold Florida Atlantic to 22 points in the first 20 minutes. Tennessee’s defense wasn’t its best — a wild statement after holding an opponent to 22 points and .786 points per possession — as Florida Atlantic got a good number of open threes but only knocked three-of-14 down.
Still, Tennessee’s pressure gave the Owls trouble and forced nine turnovers which the Vols turned into nine points of their own.
The Vols’ defense didn’t have as strong of numbers in the second half largely because of FAU hitting some open perimeter shots. The Owls also got their turnovers down, coughing it up just three times. Late game free throws also played a major part in FAU’s 40 point second half.
The 40-point second half wasn’t Tennessee’s defense but holding the Owls to 62 points gave them every chance to win.
Offensive Issues Rear Their Ugly Head
Tennessee has had offensive issues all season and they were particularly magnified by Zakai Zeigler’s absence. Florida Atlantic did a fantastic job of limiting looks from Santiago Vescovi and while the senior sharpshooter didn’t shoot or play poorly, he didn’t get enough open looks to propel the offense alone.
The Vols don’t have another consistent scorer and none stepped up in a large enough way against Florida Atlantic. After his fantastic performance against Duke, Olivier Nkamhoua was largely ineffective scoring just seven points.
Uros Plavisc came out hot scoring eight early points before completely disappearing. Josiah-Jordan James was far from a non factor scoring 10 points but it took him 11 shots to do it.
Jonas Aidoo was perhaps the most efficient Tennessee player, scoring 10 points on four-of-five shooting. However, Aidoo is not the type of player that can carry a team offensively.
The Run The Ended Tennessee’s Season
Florida Atlantic was just hanging around. The Vols led by a moderate margin for the whole first half and the first seven minutes of the second half. But they couldn’t get any sort of comfortable lead.
Then one of the best second half teams in the country struck. It came in a 18-2 run over 6:19. Florida Atlantic turned a six-point deficit into an 10-point lead. Tennessee made somewhat of a push, getting the Owls’ lead down to five and missing two open threes on the possession but neither went down.
Tennessee looked hesitant on the offensive end and FAU did a fantastic job denying Santiago Vescovi any looks over the stretch. Scoring droughts plagued Tennessee twice in the first half but FAU didn’t take advantage.
That changed in the second half.
Florida Atlantic got to the basket but more importantly hit open perimeter shots. The Owls knocked down three triples over the stretch and did a fantastic job of pushing the pace to get open looks while Tennessee’s defense scrambled.
The stretch completely flipped the game and ended Tennessee’s season in the process.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee’s season is over at the hands of Florida Atlantic. The Vols now enter an important transition offseason inside the program.
