What happened in Knoxville?

The Good

• The Cats only commited 13 turnovers on the game.
• They came back from a 19 point deficit to tie it up in the final seconds. They fought hard and showed a lot of heart. There is no quit in these Cats.
• The play of Darius Miller and his role in that 2nd half comback
• The play of John Wall, obviously.
• The fact that they were able to make such a huge comback without effective three point shooting is simply remarkable.
• Talent took over in that second half for a period of time, but Tennessee showcased their exceptional talent as well in the first half and in the final minutes to seal the deal on their 2nd win over an elite program this season in Thompson-Bowling Arena.
• Wednesday night in Athens will be the last time the Cats play in a hostile road environment. After that, they'll be playing in the comfort of the Big Blue Nation wherever they travel to throughout the month of March. This team is undefeated at home and at neutral sites, let's hope it stays that way.
• The 44th SEC Championship and #1 Seed in the NCAA Tournament still appear to be safe.

The Bad

• After this game, I've come to a realization that three point shooting IS an issue with this team. 2 for 12 behind the arc is good enough for this team to win, but not 2 for 22.
• The Cats need to either make more three's, shoot less of them, or rebound, dominate in the paint, and earn second chance points the way that they have in 27 out of 29 games this year.

And that's about it. I see more positives than negatives from this loss. The Cats played fundamentally well and did not turn the ball over, they just simply did not shoot the basketball well. The Vols had everything to gain and the Cats have already just about wrapped up a 44th SEC Championship and #1 seed. With Kansas and Purdue losing as well, the Cats still firmly stand as a #1 seed. It was a tremendous college basketball game and I look forward to a rematch in the SEC Tournament.