After uncharacteristic loss, Vols have little room for error in SEC race

Sitting with his arms folded inside the media room at Food City Center late Tuesday, Santiago Vescovi summed up Tennessee's performance just minutes before.

All that had the No. 5 Vols looking like a team bound for a Final Four in the last three weeks escaped them in their 63-59 loss to a South Carolina they were favored by more than 13 points to beat.

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They missed layups at point blank range. Free throws didn't fall, especially in critical moments. Tennessee players, who are typically the favorite to win any rebound battle, were outdone on the boards, 40-37 while the defense allowed enough open 3-pointers to swing the game.

"Anyone who watched the game would know that we missed shots we shouldn't have," Vescovi said. "Free throw line, same thing. We know we're better than that. If we do those, you do the math, I think it's a completely different game and we're not having this talk right now...But like I said, it's a sports (where) you've got to live with it. Sometimes it goes down, sometimes it doesn't.

"We've just got to focus on how to counteract that with defense, too. Just keeping working on the guys' confidence."

Vescovi wasn't wrong in his assessment. Tennessee shot just 36.2% on 21-of-58 shooting from the floor and 23.8% from three-point range. At the free throw line, the Vols made just 60% of their shots in a game that was separated by just three points when Dalton Knecht went 1-of-2 at the line with 41 seconds left.

And it started early for Tennessee (15-5, 5-2 SEC), which missed its first seven shots as South Carolina built a 7-0 lead nearly four minutes into the first half. Though the Vols managed to exchange the lead in stretches, the Gamecocks led for more than 30 minutes of game time.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Rick Barnes diagnoses Vols' offensive struggles vs. South Carolina

"(The) first four minutes of the game pretty much set the tone for what was going to happen," Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. "Because you start missing those layups and those shots like that and it just puts, you’re like ‘uh oh, here we go.’ And we’ve seen it happen before and it’s tough.”

Tennessee's inability to make shots is no discredit to South Carolina (18-3, 6-2), of course. The Gamecocks, who thumped Kentucky by 17 last week, entered the game on the cusp of the AP Top 25 and should make a significant jump when the next poll is released on Monday.

Barnes and Vescovi touted South Carolina's physicality postgame and Barnes went as far as to say that Tennessee "did not deserve to win this game." But the loss did show that the Vols have to do more than rely on Knecht.

Despite Knecht scoring 31 points--his sixth-straight game scoring 25-plus--and Vescovi hitting multiple 3-pointers and finishing as the only other Vol with 10 double-figures, the rest of the supporting cast struggled.

Josiah-Jordan James continued his slump on the offensive end, scoring just 2 points after being held scoreless at Vanderbilt last Saturday. Zakai Zeigler was surprisingly ineffective on offense, too while Jonas Aidoo put out his lowest point total in seven games with 6 points and just five rebounds.

Off the bench, Jordan Gainey, who has been a shot in the arm the last couple of week was held scoreless.

“I was surprised at the shots we missed early. We got what we were looking for and just, I was baffled by that a little bit," Barnes said. "And the free throws, I mean, I know you can have some tough nights there, but certain guys go up there, you expect them to be pretty consistent there. And what I was probably more baffled by was our lack of discipline on the defensive end in terms of what our gameplan was.”

Tennessee has managed to overcome struggles this season. The Vols trailed in the second half at both Georgia and Vanderbilt before storming back to win behind an offensive explosion from Knecht, but that never formulated vs. South Carolina.

"I think we know what to do is get (Knecht) the ball, that he’s proven he can go. I mean, look at his numbers, you say he wasn’t making shots, he shot him was 50%," Barnes said. "I mean, volume shooter, and he’s not a volume shooter. But we need you to look down the line. I can talk about guys missing shots, but you can’t miss layups. I’m just telling you, you can’t. The game is too hard when you got a chance to dunk the ball or finish, and we can’t. I mean, Dalton hasn’t done a good job on the free-throw line in the last two games.

"And every time we had a chance to maybe crawl back in it, I think Zakai was 2-for-4 (at the foul line). What was Jonas from the free-throw line (2-4)? Dalton (6-10)? I mean, those are three guys who we want there. And again, we didn’t do a good job on the free-throw line.”

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Key takeaways: Vols can't survive off night at home

Tennessee can chalk it up to a bad night, which is easily explainable but it is clear that it will need the most out of its lineup with the toughest part of its league schedule still ahead.

The Vols recent loss puts them in a three-way tie for third place with Kentucky and Auburn in the SEC race despite looking like the runaway favorites a week ago. South Carolina moved into second place after beating Tennessee while Alabama, who the Vols defeated earlier this month, hold the top spot with a 5-1 record.

There's still plenty of basketball to be played, but as the calendar turns to February, the Vols are left with little room for error going forward, starting with a critical road tilt at No. 10 Kentucky in Rupp Arena on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

The Wildcats have one of the top offenses in the league, averaging 88.5 points, 49.1% shooting for the field and 40.2% from deep per game.

"We all know it's tough loss," Vescovi said. "Got to give a ton of credit to South Carolina. They have a great team, they're very physical. But moving forward, we know the areas we've got improve on. Just pretty much the main message to the team (after the game) was to stay together. You knew during the season that we would have these ups and lows.

"Just got to stick together more than anything. Turn the page quick and know that we have a big game coming up Saturday, too."

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