Going into Friday night’s game against Tennessee, coach Murry Bartow knew his team could score, but worried about defense.
Unfortunately for the Buccaneers, his doubt existed for a reason.
With all five starters scoring in double figures, the Volunteers dominated ETSU, 106-83, under new head coach Bruce Pearl. Failure to hold onto the ball led to inconsistency and tough breaks on defense for ETSU.
“They killed us,” Bartow said about his team’s turnovers. “We weren’t very efficient tonight. We wanted to have 12 or 13 turnovers for the game and we had 20 in the first half.”
Despite senior Jason Rhoda claiming the game’s first basket, UT led by as many as 17 points in the first half. A Buccaneer rally cut that lead to eight, but the Volunteers went on a 10-1 run to eventually silence the ETSU offense.
Back from a one-game suspension, point guard Tim Smith was held to just four points in the first half. Eventually finishing with a game-high 26 points, he did manage to score 12 points in a span of 47 seconds.
“We came out sluggish and we weren’t competing,” Smith said. “And it starts with me. We just got off to a slow start. We were nervous and turned it over too many times. It’s hard to win when you do that against a good team.”
Free throws were another huge problem for ETSU, as the players hit below half for the game. On the contrary, UT converted nearly 70 percent of their foul shots, giving them an edge of 24-12 from the line.
“First, we have to cut down on fouling,” Rhoda said. “It was frustrating. We just gave them too many easy baskets. You can’t play that poorly on the road and expect to win. We’ll have to keep fighting, and play better defense.”
Known as one of the best shooters in the country, UT guard Chris Lofton gave ETSU a lot of trouble from behind the arc, nailing six three-pointers in front of an announced crowd of 21,280. He also had four steals during the game, some coming when ETSU had more turnovers than points in the first half.
“We came out of practice feeling ready for this, but the turnovers were really what got us,” Courtney Pigram said. “They scored off the break a lot; we gave it to them in transition. It’s all about our defense, really.”
While outside shooting improved for ETSU in the second half, the visitors hit just one three-pointer in the first 20 minutes. On the contrary, post Dillion Sneed muscled his way through the paint, putting up 15 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.
“We know we can score with anybody,” Smith said. “If we get the ball inside more, we’ll score more. We can go inside out, and see how things go from there. It’s just that we have to focus on defense and play better.”
Although the Buccaneer attack was stopped by UT most of the time, Bartow acknowledged that some positives can come out of this inaugural loss. “Tayloe Taylor came in and did some good things,” Bartow said. “Dante Williams hit a couple threes and showed he’s a good shooter. We have a lot to work on, so hopefully we’ll move on and try to win on Tuesday.”
ETSU will travel to Radford for their second game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. After an exhibition game against neighboring Milligan College on Saturday, ETSU plays their first regular season home game against Marshall on Nov. 28 at 7 p.m.

Author