University of Tennessee Athletics
The @Vol_Hoops Report: Nov. 6
November 06, 2014 | Men's Basketball
The Tennessee basketball team plays its final preseason exhibition game Saturday, as the Volunteers host Lenoir-Rhyne University at 7 p.m. ET at Thompson-Boling Arena.
A live video feed of the game will be streamed online via SEC Network+ (see details on accessing the broadcast further down in this report).
The new-look Vols under first-year head coach Donnie Tyndall overcame a sloppy start in their exhibition opener Monday, rallying from an early nine-point deficit to defeat the University of Pikeville 80-62.
Tyndall said during his postgame press conference Monday that he planned to address Tennessee's turnover tendencies in the practices leading up to Saturday's clash with Lenoir-Rhyne. The Vols committed 18 total turnovers against Pikeville, including five in the opening seven minutes. Luckily for UT, the Bears only managed to convert those 18 turnovers to 16 points.
Turnovers remained a topic of conversation Thursday when Tyndall met with reporters prior to practice.
"That can be an Achilles heel for us if we don't do a better job improving in that area," Tyndall said. "You want to be in attack mode. You want to play up-tempo. But on the flip-side, you can't give the ball away."
Junior-college transfer Kevin Punter was one of seven Vols who made their debut in orange Monday, and he confirmed that the Tennessee coaching staff has emphasized taking care of the basketball during practice and film study this week.
"It's always a point of emphasis. (Coach Tyndall) preaches that all time in practice," Punter told reporters. "If you want to win, at any level, especially at this level, you can't turn the ball over. I believe we had 18 turnovers (Monday vs. Pikeville), but a lot of them were unforced. When you have unforced turnovers, you can't really expect to win the game. We've got to clean it up, and we're going to clean it up, and we're going to be just fine.
"I think a lot of guys were nervous, so you tend to get sped up a little bit. I think as the game went on, guys slowed down, including myself. I was less aggressive and a little more patient--probably too patient. It was a lot of guys' first game playing in Thompson-Boling Arena, so a lot of us were a little nervous."
Sophomore guard Robert Hubbs III started and managed four assists against two turnovers vs. Pikeville. During his media session Thursday, he pointed to Tennessee's need to remain calm in the face of full-court pressure and traps in the backcourt.
"I think when teams press us, we have to calm down, get into our offensive set and just try to beat the press," Hubbs said. "We have to take care of the ball."
Applying disruptive pressure on opposing teams is another area that Tyndall hopes to see the Vols improve upon Saturday. Tennessee recorded just three steals as a team during the victory vs. Pikeville.
"Defensively, I think we could have been more active in our press," Tyndall said. "Only three steals kind of speaks for itself in terms of not getting deflections and not getting hands on ball level.
"We need to improve on our press. With our lack of size, our athleticism and our quickness needs to be a strength of this team this year. With that being said, our press needs to be better."
Vol fans have an opportunity to make their presence felt, help apply audible pressure to Lenoir-Rhyne and serve as a sixth man Saturday. Tickets to the exhibition are $5 each. Fans whodonate two new school supply items upon entering the arena Saturday will receive one free 300-level general admission ticket. All school supplies collected will be donated to Knox County School Supply Depot.
Gates open at 5:30 p.m.
SHUMATE'S VERTICAL
Junior Derek Reese calls it the "Power Leg" and sophomore Dominic Woodson calls it the "Rim Grazer," but regardless of the move's nickname, the fact remains: assistant coach Chris Shumate can still dunk.Shumate surprised Tennessee's forwards again Wednesday. After seeing several missed dunks in practice, Shumate took the ball to the hoop himself, to prove it could be done.
It wasn't the first time that the forwards have seen the power move, but it is still a rare sight.
"He surprised us when he first did that," Reese said. "We thought he couldn't dunk any more. It came out of nowhere, and he just dunked it. Everyone was going crazy."
Shumate played college basketball at Murray State from 1999-04 and earned Ohio Valley Conference honors twice.
"He could probably jump and dunk it pretty hard because to be a coach now and be able to dunk it, it's probably hard for him to do," Woodson said.
Shumate no longer practices his dunking skills on his own free time, so he said he was happy to make the shot, for effect.
"I didn't hurt myself, and that's the most important part," Shumate said.
ABOUT LENOIR-RHYNE
Lenoir-Rhyne University is a private, co-ed liberal arts university founded in 1891 and located in Hickory, N.C.Head coach John Lentz is starting his 29th season guiding the Bears.
The Bears compete in South Atlantic Conference, which also features East Tennessee schools Carson-Newman University, Lincoln Memorial University and Tusculum College.
Tennessee Senior Executive Associate Athletics Director Jon Gilbert is a Lenoir-Rhyne grad.
Another notable Lenoir-Rhyne alumnus is University of Texas head basketball coach Rick Barnes, a Hickory native who played for the Bears from 1974-77. During those same years, Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King were starring at Tennessee.
Barnes and Lentz were roommates at Lenoir-Rhyne.
The Bears roster includes two Tennessee natives in freshman guard Billy Bales and freshman forward Mike Wagner, both of whom hail from Elizabethton.
HOW TO ACCESS SATURDAY'S SEC NETWORK+ BROADCAST
Saturday's exhibition vs. Lenoir-Rhyne, like all games broadcast via SEC Network+ game, is not accessible through your cable provider's channel guide. This also means that is not being shown on one of the SEC Network "alternate channels."All games broadcast under the "plus" branding are available online only. Fans can access the broadcast through WatchESPN, accessible online atWatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 or Xbox Oneto fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.
Direct links to all online broadcasts are always listed on the "event central" page for that particular game on UTsports.com.
Saturday's direct link is: http://es.pn/1q8ypHR
For the most up-to-date information about the Tennessee basketball program, visit UTsports.com/basketball and follow @Vol_Hoops on Twitter and Instagram.
