Boughter: Turnovers Continue to Plague Tennessee

Tennessee has been unable to execute consistently in crunch time, and turnovers have been the primary reason.

Leading 54-37 with 14 minutes left to play, Tennessee had a golden opportunity to get its March Madness hopes back on track against No. 13 Auburn.

Instead, turnovers doomed the Volunteers as they were outscored 36-12 the rest of the way, and the Volunteers suffered a back-breaking loss that effectively ends any chance of receiving an at-large bid to the Big Dance.

Tennessee’s starting lineup committed 22 turnovers during Saturday’s game. Josiah-Jordan James led the team with six, including a game-sealing turnover with thirty seconds left on the clock. 

Santiago Vescovi had five turnovers in only 18 minutes, while John Fulkerson added four.

Perhaps the only reason the Vols found themselves leading at halftime was Auburn’s inability to capitalize on Tennessee’s mistakes. Auburn only scored five points off UT’s 11 first half turnovers.

During the second half, Auburn utilized the Vols’ mistakes to spark their 18-0 run, scoring 22 points off of their miscues.

Quite frankly, James and Vescovi will need to be more careful with the basketball next season if they want to remain starters for Tennessee. 

James, in particular, had a ton of egregious mistakes that led to fast-break opportunities for the Tigers. 

And while Vescovi remains a fan favorite on Rocky Top and did add 10 points for the Vols, he is extremely prone to committing offensive fouls that doom Tennessee possessions.

Jordan Bowden, for all his offensive heroics on Saturday, remains better served for the Vols as an off-ball scorer and not a play initiator for the remainder of his Tennessee career. And since 2020 commits Jaden Springer and Keon Johnson are better served as shooting guards than point guards, Tennessee is stuck with Vescovi and James at point next season, for better or for worse. 

If Vescovi and James can’t limit their turnovers, Tennessee will continue to struggle with late-game collapses next season.