It looks like Tennessee is going to be just fine. That isn’t terribly surprising, but if you had some doubts before the season, it was a little understandable. The Vols did lose a lot from last year.
But Rick Barnes knows a thing or two about running a program, and that was the case well before the Vols went up to Toronto and knocked off Washington 75-62 in the highlight game of the James Naismith Classic.
The Volunteers have a different look this year with their frontcourt gone from last season. In particular, two-time SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield were big contributors to their season a year ago, one that ended in disappointment but included some time at the top of the polls. But their senior guards return, and in college basketball, that’s a good place to start.
Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner will have a big say in how far this team goes. Their experience and intangibles will be the biggest factor, and that was shown on Saturday against a Washington team that has great young talent. Bowden (18 points, six rebounds) and Turner (16 points, seven rebounds, eight assists) led the way, and also were keys defensively to holding the Huskies to 40 percent shooting and forcing 17 turnovers. Turner was far from perfect, going 3-12 from the field and turning the ball over six times, but he did well to impact the game without scoring and continued to compete.
Washington’s good young talent had their moments, but couldn’t push them to victory. Jaden McDaniels had 15 points, but he was 6-17 from the field, had five turnovers and fouled out. Isaiah Stewart was impressive with a double-double (14 points on 7-12 shooting along with 10 rebounds). Junior Nahziah Carter looks to be breaking out now that he has an expanded role, and Saturday continued his good start to that end as he posted a double-double of his own with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
It’s early yet, but Tennessee now has a win that should have shelf life for later in the season as Washington should be among the Pac-12 elite. The Volunteers will have other quality win opportunities outside of the SEC, as their schedule includes dates with Florida State, arch-rival Memphis, Cincinnati, Wisconsin and Kansas, the last one coming on the road in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Barnes is not going easy on this team, and thus far they are showing promise.
Tennessee is still known as a “football school.” Given the trends of that and the basketball program, however, one would be forgiven for thinking it might be a basketball school before long.
Side Dishes
Vermont scored the big win of the day among mid-majors, going to St. John’s and edging the Red Storm 70-68. While this isn’t the St. John’s teams of recent years, going on the road and getting a win is a plus, and Vermont is now 4-0. Anthony Lamb had 23 points and 13 rebounds as the Catamounts held St. John’s to 34.5 percent shooting and forced 16 turnovers to win despite being out-rebounded 50-37.
Other notable results: Maryland was impressive in blowing out Oakland 80-50; Old Dominion went on the road to a former CAA rival and beat Northeastern 76-69; Northern Iowa edged Northern Colorado 77-72 in overtime; Morgan State got a double-double from Troy Baxter Jr. (10 points, 10 rebounds) and edged George Washington 68-64; Belmont handed Boston College its first loss, a 100-85 win in Chestnut Hill behind 35 points from Adam Kunkel; Creighton took care of Louisiana Tech 82-72 despite a big double-double from the Bulldogs’ Mubarak Muhammed (14 points, 16 rebounds); Davidson got their first win of the year by blowing out UNCW 87-49; Oregon State picked up an 83-63 win at Wyoming, which is never an easy place to win; and USC picked up a nice road win at Nevada 76-66 behind a double-double from Nick Rackocevic (24 points, 11 rebounds).
Tonight’s Menu
Although it’s not the busiest slate, a good number of the games are worth watching and/or part of a doubleheader.
- At the Spartan Invitational in Greensboro, Tennessee Tech and Montana State match up (noon)
- The Red Wolves Classic has a doubleheader as well, with VMI and UC Davis getting it started (noon) and Idaho taking on host Arkansas State to close it out (2:30 p.m.)
- A really good matchup that many will sleep on is VCU hosting Jacksonville State (noon)
- Marquette visits Wisconsin in a rivalry game (1 p.m.)
- The final day of the River Hawk Invitational at UMass-Lowell has Jacksonville playing Merrimack (1 p.m.) and Dartmouth taking on the hosts (3:30 p.m.)
- Arizona gets a tough test as New Mexico State comes to town, while UCF travels to Illinois State (2 p.m.)
- The final day of the Islander Invitational has Stony Brook and North Dakota State in the opener (2 p.m.) and UT Rio Grande Valley taking on host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to close it out (4:30 p.m.)
- Oklahoma State gets a tough test as Yale comes to town (2:30 p.m.)
- Florida heads north to visit UConn, while Mississippi State gets a visit from Southland Conference contender New Orleans (3 p.m.)
- Seton Hall tries to bounce back from a tough loss on Thursday night as they travel to Saint Louis (4 p.m.)
- The last set of games on the day includes a good one as Sun Belt contender UT Arlington travels to Oregon (8 p.m.)
