The Tennessee Volunteers kicked off conference play on Saturday with a tough matchup at Arkansas. The Vols entered at 19th in the country, while the Razorbacks were 18th.
It was a tight game in the first
half, with both teams exchanging blows and looking evenly matched. However, the Vols played sloppily in the second half, couldn’t make a free throw when it mattered, and the star players were invisible for the most part.
The Razorbacks ended up escaping with an 86-75 win, and the Vols started conference play with a loss. The hope is that this loss will be a wake-up call, and the team will get it together before we get deep into January. However, there are definitely things to be concerned about, especially the free throw shooting.
Now, let’s discuss three takeaways from this disappointing result.
Free throw shooting has to be better
On Saturday, the Vols hit just 52% of their free throws. The Razorbacks, meanwhile, hit 88% of theirs. The Vols missed 11 free throws and lost the game by 11 points.
Perhaps more concerningly, freshman star Nate Ament went just 5 of 11 from the charity stripe. Hitting less than half of your free throws is completely unacceptable for a star player. Jaylen Carey also missed both of his attempts, and those things will kill you in conference play.
The Vols will definitely lose more games if they continue to struggle from the free throw line.
Nate Ament has to be better
When you come into a season with as much hype as Nate Ament did, you better produce. Unfortunately, Ament has been a massive disappointment so far in Knoxville.
Against Arkansas, Ament ended with 13 points, three rebounds, and three assists. As mentioned above, Ament hit less than half of his free throws and also missed his only three-point attempt. There is no Zakai Zeigler or Dalton Knecht anymore, and the hope was that Ament would shoulder the load.
It’s still very early in Ament’s career, and it’s not surprising to see a freshman struggle. However, so much of Tennessee’s hopes for this season revolved around Ament immediately being a go-to option, and that hasn’t been the case yet.
Ethan Burg can’t be relied upon
Look, I don’t want to be harsh, but what positive value has Ethan Burg added this season? The sophomore played five minutes on Saturday and did nothing other than turn the ball over a couple of times and get one steal. Burg was also called for a double dribble, which is rare to see from a point guard.
Amari Evans and Amaree Abram have both been better with their minutes than Berg has. Like Ament, there’s plenty of time for Burg to turn things around, but it’s hard to see any positives when he’s on the court right now.
