Posts Tagged ‘Alexander Memorial Coliseum’

Well, despite playing well down the stretch, the BasketVols fell to the Arkansas Razorbacks in a 92-91 contest before a crowd of only a couple hundred people at Alexander Memorial Coliseum in SEC Tournament play on Saturday. While this is hardly the end of the season for the Vols, this one stings a bit more than most.

There is no question that all of the upheaval which occurred as a result of a tornado hitting the Georgia Dome on Friday night — forcing the remainder of the Tournament to be played on the Georgia Tech campus — had an impact on the Vols, but it had an equal impact on the Razorbacks. The only team which seemed to be immune to the confusion was the scrappy and focused Georgia Bulldogs squad which managed to beat both the Kentucky Wildcats and the Mississippi State Bulldogs on the same day to advance to the Tournament finals.

Everything about this tournament has been unorthodox. Throughout the tournament higher seeded teams have been falling like flies to under-manned and, apparently, under-rated teams. I would venture a guess that almost no one imagined a Tournament Championship match-up between the 22-10 Razorbacks and 16-18 Bulldogs, especially one at Alexander Memorial in front of fewer fans than most big high school games.

The fact that the top seeded teams have faired so poorly in the tournament shows two things quite clearly: The SEC is not as “down” as all the talking heads have said throughout the season, and (as I said after Tennessee fell to Kentucky at Rupp Arena earlier this season) when one team wants to win, and other team has to win, always bet on the latter.

Despite being hugely disappointed at the BasketVols loss to the Razorbacks, the game was actually very exciting, and I have to give Arkansas credit for playing with great tenacity and intensity. Chris Lofton and Tyler Smith led the Vols in scoring with 25 and 24 points respectively. Tennessee’s point-guard play, however, was not what it could have been , and the inability of the Vols to show a killer instinct on defense really hurt them down the stretch.

I think the guys over at 3rd Saturday in Blogtober pretty much sum up my feelings on the loss. Be that as it may, tonight we will know where the BasketVols end up in the NCAA field — while a number 1 seed is not out of the question, Saturday’s loss makes it a tougher sell. Either way, I know that Bruce and the Barbarians will be ready to go when it is time to play in the Big Dance. In the end, I’d rather lose in the SEC Tournament, than in the NCAA Tournament. The Vols seemed a little out of sync since the start of the SEC Tournament, and maybe this loss will help them find that focus once again.

I firmly believe that, with Bruce Pearl at the helm, anything is possible for this team. the only question now is where will the next step take them? Fortunately, we find that out tonight…

– Go Figure …