Mississippi State Review

The Vols faced off against a tough Mississippi State Bulldogs team on Sunday afternoon and were able to come out of the game with their first SEC win of the season. It’s always going to be a different type of game for freshman, and I think Tennessee’s freshman were up for the task tonight. It’s usually tougher for the freshman post players to adapt to SEC play since they are going up against a ton of good post players, and tonight was a perfect example. Both Crews and Chism were exposed to the SEC and both came away improved. Both faced off against Charles Rhodes and were introduced to the physical play of the SEC. Couple that with the fact the Jamont Gordon was living inside the paint tonight, and there was a lot of big plays being made in the paint. My thoughts from the game…

1) Chris Lofton had an off night, kind of disappearing into the game, but still scoring 21 points. It’s amazing that the guy can have a quiet game, yet still score 21 points. It was a good sign that the Vols were able to play well on a night that Lofton couldn’t hit a field goal.

2) Ramar Smith continues to improve each game. I told people at the beginning of the season that he would be really good, and some still didn’t agree with me after the Memphis game (cough..cough..Cody..cough..cough). Well after his last couple of games, let me officially announce that Smith has arrived. Ramar finished with 13 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 HUGE blocks, and 1 turnover. How is that line for your point guard?

3) I really thought the refs were awful tonight. Real big surprise I know. And they were bad for both teams. They seemed to be biased in spurts, especially in the second half. The first half of the second half was definitely in favor of Mississippi State. They were getting away with all kinds of stuff and were going all over the back all day. Then the last half of the second half was in favor of UT. Stuff like that just really ticks me off. Call the game even and not in spurts. More reasons to hate SEC officials.

4) I am becoming really worried about our depth. It’s not really an issue right now, but could become one as the season progresses with the style of game Tennessee plays. The Vols had four starters play over 30 minutes, and with two of those being freshman, that’s not good news. Tennessee desperately needs a ninth player to step up (uhem..Tony Passley..uhem) and provide some quality minutes until Jordan Howell returns.

And now for everyone’s, and by everyone I mean all three readers, favorite part of the review, the Stat Line of the Night. Now, I always give the stat line to the Vols, and will this game, but I got to give some props to Jamont Gordon who had 25 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals in 35 minutes. Now onto the Vols. And it shouldn’t be a surprise after the way he played today, and with his first Stat Line of the Night….

Stat Line of the Night:

                TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
Player Name     FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
Smith,Ramar ...  5-10   1-2    2-3    3  3  6   1  13  7  1  2  1  33