Tennessee basketball fooled me. I didn’t believe Vols could play that bad | Adams

Tennessee basketball brought back memories Sunday. And that wasn’t a good thing.

As they fell behind Houston by as many as 22 points in the first half, they reminded me of former coach Wade Houston’s Vols losing to Kentucky by 61 points in the SEC tournament in 1993.

When they managed a mere 15 first-half points, I thought back to a sub-40-point game from former coach Kevin O’Neill’s Vols in the mid-1990s.

That’s how bad No. 2 seed Tennessee was in a 69-50 loss to No. 1 seed Houston in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

When Tennessee took the floor, it had never been closer to a Final Four. But the Final Four seemed as distant as ever the way the game unfolded.

A UT team built on toughness and defense got out-toughed and out defended by the Cougars, who made a mockery of the betting line that had them as only a slight favorite.

A buddy who bets texted me 15 minutes before tipoff: “Vols?”

“Definitely,” I responded confidently.

At halftime, I texted him again. My message: “I left out the word ‘not,’ ” though the humor probably was lost on a friend who doesn’t bet cheaply.

Tennessee (30-8) spent the first three games of the NCAA Tournament convincing me why it was ready to make the Final Four for the first time in school history. In none of those victories did it drop a clue that it could produce a half as wretched as the one it delivered against the Cougars (34-4).

Even when the Vols were at their stumbling worst in the first half – two of them ran together and knocked each other down − I reminded myself: “Basketball is a game of runs.”

I also reminded myself how good the Vols have been all season – how they beat the likes of Auburn, Florida, and Kentucky in the Sweet 16 after losing to it twice during the regular season. So, I didn’t rule out a comeback, as unlikely as it might have seemed in UT’s most inept moments.

Finally, early in the third quarter, the Vols managed a pulse. Coach Rick Barnes, realizing a comeback would require a faster pace, stretched his defense to the full court to speed up the tempo.

The strategy paid off. Then, guard Jordan Gainey, who has come up clutch many times before, got hot. He scored eight consecutive points.

Houston’s lead dropped to 14 points. Tennessee’s hopes rose.

Against a lesser team, the Vols might have sustained their momentum. However, coach Kelvin Sampson’s bunch doesn’t have a track record for faltering when victory seems imminent. The Cougars have proved they can protect a lead as well as the basketball.