JBB #19 Memphis @ Tennessee

It's 43-22 Tennessee at halftime, and the Vols are looking very, very good.

Chirs Lofton has 21 at the half, he's been pulling up and just canning 3s and had 2 or 3 slick, slick drives to the rack, really showing a dangerous all-around game. Duke Crews had a real good spurt, too, I think he had about 6 pts 5 reb and was playing really physical, tough defense and adding a lot of energy.

Memphis couldn't penetrate that Vol defense, and it wasn't for lack of trying, but they just ended up launching a lot of bad threes. All their shots were contested, Tennessee's playin as good on defense as I've seen. This must really be the rivalry game they've been talking about, and I'm sure Calipari's just tearing the paint off the walls right now. Should be an interesting 2nd half.

 

Lofton has completely owned Memphis by himself. He looks like Kobe against the Jazz when he dropped 30 in that 3rd QTR.......well maybe a bit over doing it but he's on fire. He just nailed a big time 3 to get 29 points.
55-37 Vols

 

Lofton has 29 of the Vols' 55 points.

And there is still 12:30 left in the game.

 

This Memphis team is extremely overrated (especially by the national polls). Yes, I'm biased and hate the team's guts, but aside from all of that, they just don't have the talent they've had the past few years, and they don't have the offensive firepower that their system needs. Memphis runs a spread offense, so they need players who are good one-on-one guys, like Carney, Williams, and Washington. Most of their offense comes from the perimeter too, and this team has had struggles hitting from outside. They'll be highly regarded all year and make the tourney because of their schedule, but just like always you can expect them to make an early exit in March.

 

Dude, Memphis is painful to watch on offense. They all just stand around on the wings, waiting for someone to drive. I never said anything before because their shots were falling in Maui, so there wasn't all that much to critique. But last night, ugh. They looked like an NBA team that's used to just relying on a Kobe or a T Mac to penetrate and create for everyone. But it didn't happen. CD-R (see what I did there? LOL) looked good, and he was getting to the rim and converting nicely, but Dozier mostly just drifted to the wing, Dorsey had a really bizarre night; he must've had 5 offensive boards, but couldn't get his putbacks to fall. I think they lost about 10 points just on the offensive glass because they were getting 2nd chances, but just couldn't convert. That team needs to play a more structured offense and/or needs a 1 to step up and take control of that offense in the half court, because the way they're playing now, if they go cold for a game in the tourney or something they'll get run out of the gym.