The University of Tennessee women’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Sunday, as it dropped a 79-73 decision to West Virginia in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
After trailing for much of the game, the Lady Vols (2-1) rallied to take a 66-61 lead when Jordan Horston made a steal and a layup with 1 minute, 5 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Mountaineers (4-0), who led 47-40 in the third quarter, managed to get the game into overtime by closing out regulation with a modest 5-0 run.
Tennessee scored first in the extra frame when Keyen Green made a layup that was assisted by Horston, giving UT a 68-66 lead.
After that, however, the Mountaineers were able to seal the victory with an 11-5 run.
Tennessee made just 30 of its 78 field goal attempts. The Lady Vols went just 2-of-19 from beyond the 3-point arc and committed 20 turnovers that resulted in 19 West Virginia points.
Photo provided by Tennessee Athletic Communications
Rae Burrell led the Lady Vols with 18 points, while Horston added 13 and Green finished with 12.
Tennessee’s Rennia Davus, one of the nation’s top scorers, had just eight points while going 4-for-19 from the floor.
The Mountaineers’ Kyrse Gondrezick had 27 points to lead all scorers.
Tennessee (2-6, 2-6 SEC) lost to No. 6 Florida (8-1, 8-1 SEC), 31-19, Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback J.T. Shrout appeared in his second game of the 2020 season.
Against Florida, Shrout was 12-of-14 for 121 yards and one touchdown. His other appearance this season came against Kentucky, going 0-for-1 and one interception.
Following the game, Shrout discussed his performance against Florida.
KNOXVILLE, TN – DECEMBER 05, 2020 – Quarterback J.T. Shrout #12 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the game between the Florida Gators and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
On the last few weeks leading up to tonight’s game
“Obviously the Kentucky game wasn’t the outcome I wanted, but I was just having to stay the course and still prepare the same way as if you’re going to be the starter. That’s how I always approach it. That’s how (Coach Pruitt) tells us we should approach it, and that’s basically how it’s been.”
Dan Mullen is in his third season as Florida’s head coach.
Mullen is 29-6 through 35 games as the Gators’ head coach.
Florida won the SEC East championship with a 31-19 victory over Tennessee at Neyland Stadium Saturday.
Following Florida’s win against the Vols, Mullen discussed winning the SEC East and where his program is three years into his tenure.
“It shows you where the program is at, right?,” Mullen said. “When it’s 31-7 when cleanup time starts, and we just kind of clean up the game and finish it out, and you say that’s not a very good game by us or not one of our great performances, that shows you where we’re at as a program, which says a lot.
“I’m really proud of our guys. I’m really proud of how we played. We played a great defensive game. You know, we’ve got to finish it there when we get into the cleanup time at the end of the game. We started subbing guys in, and they’ve got to come in and slam the door and not give up the two garbage time touchdowns that they scored at the end, but, overall, I’m pretty pleased with how we played for the day.”
Dec 5, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen watches from the sidelines during the first half against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Tennessee scored 12 points in the fourth quarter against Florida.
Vols’ running back Ty Chandler scored on a 7-yard carry with 5:33 remaining in the contest. J.T. Shrout connected with Velus Jones Jr. for a 22-yard pass with 27 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
“Some mistakes, some things we’ve got to get cleaned up, but winning the SEC East championship in this year, the hardest year in the history of this league where we’re going to play 10 regular-season conference games, to win our division is pretty special and shows a lot of what our teams is about and where our whole coaching staff is at.” — Florida head coach Dan Mullen
Tennessee wide receiver opting out of remaining 2020 season.
Sophomore wide receiver Ramel Keyton has opted out of the remaining 2020 season.
Third-year Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt discussed the status of Keyton following the Vols’ 31-19 loss to Florida.
“Ramel is not going to finish the year playing football,” Pruitt said. “He is going to continue to focus on academics, and that will be a great opportunity for him.”
KNOXVILLE, TN – SEPTEMBER 01, 2020 – Wide receiver Ramel Keyton #80 of the Tennessee Volunteers during 2020 Fall Camp practice on Haslam Field in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Caleb Jones/Tennessee Athletics
Keyton appeared in seven games for the Vols in 2020, totaling nine receptions for 76 yards. He appeared in 12 contests as a freshman in 2019, recording four receptions and 104 yards.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound wide receiver is from Marietta High School in Marietta, Georgia.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback J.T. Shrout appeared in his second game of the 2020 season Saturday against Florida.
Shrout was 12-of-14 for 121 yards and one touchdown in Tennessee’s 31-19 loss to the Gators. His other appearance this season came against Kentucky, going 0-for-1 and one interception.
Following the Florida game, third-year Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt discussed why Shrout has not received more opportunities to play this season.
KNOXVILLE, TN – DECEMBER 05, 2020 – Quarterback J.T. Shrout #12 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the game between the Florida Gators and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
“After the Kentucky game, we’ve had those Sunday night scrimmages, or what we call opportunity periods after practice,” Pruitt said. “We’ve continued to do that up until the last couple of weeks. We’ve not done it the last couple of years. Based on that, we felt like there was a time that we wanted to go with those guys.
“It kind of came back around to J.T. It happens that way sometimes. I think he’s taken advantage of the opportunities that he’s had. The last 10 days were really good for him. Unfortunately, it looked like he hurt his arm a little bit, but he played okay with it today.”
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Freshman quarterback Harrison Bailey started for Tennessee against Florida.
“J.T. really had two weeks of really good practice, and then on Wednesday, he was throwing a ball and then his shoulder popped,” Pruitt said. “We didn’t really even know if he could play going into today, but he felt like he could. We had a plan to play both of the guys going in if J.T. could. We went with Harrison to start and were rocking along okay. I know we didn’t create a ton of explosive plays, but we were kind of changing the momentum of the game there and then gave up a drive right before halftime.
“As the game went in the second half, there were a couple plays that I thought maybe we could have been a little more aggressive on. J.T. is, from an experience standpoint, two years older than Harrison, so just getting him out there and going, I thought he did a nice job at the end.”
Vols add home game against Pac-12 opponent to 2020 schedule.
After five cancellations, No. 13 Tennessee will open the 2020-21 men’s basketball season Dec. 8.
The Vols have added Colorado (2-0) to its schedule. Tipoff between Tennessee and Colorado is slated for 6 p.m. EST at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Tennessee is 2-0 all-time against the Buffaloes with wins in Knoxville (1980) and Boulder (1981).
Vols’ head coach Rick Barnes is 13-4 against Colorado in his career.
Tennessee is 19-11 all-time against current member institutions of the Pac-12. UT’s most recent game against a Pac-12 opponent resulted in a 75-62 win against Washington during last season’s James Naismith Classic in Toronto.
Colorado head coach Tad Boyle served as Tennessee’s director of basketball operations under Jerry Green during the 1997-98 season. Green was Tennessee’s head coach from 1997-2001.
The Vols featured three quarterbacks against Florida. Freshman Harrison Bailey started the contest and Brian Maurer and J.T. Shrout also played.
Following the loss to Florida, third-year Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt discussed his quarterbacks.
“J.T. really had two weeks of really good practice, and then on Wednesday, he was throwing a ball and then his shoulder popped,” Pruitt said. “We didn’t really even know if he could play going into today, but he felt like he could. We had a plan to play both of the guys going in if J.T. could. We went with Harrison to start and were rocking along okay. I know we didn’t create a ton of explosive plays, but we were kind of changing the momentum of the game there and then gave up a drive right before halftime.
“As the game went in the second half, there were a couple plays that I thought maybe we could have been a little more aggressive on. J.T. is, from an experience standpoint, two years older than Harrison, so just getting him out there and going, I thought he did a nice job at the end.”
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Bailey finished the contest 14-of-21 for 111 yards and one touchdown. He was sacked five times.
Shrout completed 12 of 14 passes for 121 yards and one touchdown. He was sacked one time. Maurer completed his only passing attempt for eight yards.
Redshirt senior quarterback Jarrett Guarantano did not play against the Gators.
“He hadn’t practiced in 13 days,” Pruitt said of Guarantano. “A lot of those guys had not practiced in 13 days that played today. It’s probably a lot tougher on a quarterback.”
Dec 5, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt speaks with quarterback Harrison Bailey (15) during the first half against the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Pruitt was also asked about the quarterback unit going forward with games against Vanderbilt and Texas A&M remaining in the regular season.
“Every week — so you all will never have to ask me this again — every week we see who competes well in practice, who does the best job that we feel like affects the guys around him, and we will do that as long as I’m the head football coach here at every position, so you don’t have to ask me again,” Pruitt said.
Tennessee (2-6, 2-6 SEC) suffered its sixth consecutive loss Saturday to No. 6 Florida (8-1, 8-1 SEC), 31-19.
Following the game, third-year Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt discussed the Vols’ performance against Florida.
“This team was too good for us to let them off the hook, and we let them off the hook from a defensive standpoint about four or five times on third down in the first half,” Pruitt said of Florida.
Dec 5, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Florida Gators quarterback Kyle Trask (11) warms up before the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
The Gators were led by redshirt senior quarterback Kyle Trask.
Trask was 35-of-49 for 433 passing yards and four touchdowns against Tennessee.
“Florida has a really good football team, they have a couple of exceptional players and I thought they played very well today,” Pruitt said. “I thought our kids fought hard when you look at the circumstances that a lot of these guys were around.
“We made a ton of mistakes today, but the mistakes we made were probably some where we needed to do a much better job getting guys ready to play and some were guys hadn’t practiced in two weeks.”
Dec 5, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt walks down the sideline during the first half against the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Pruitt detailed how his defense did not make plays against Florida’s offense.
“When you’re playing inside man-to-man, you shouldn’t get beat inside,” Pruitt said. “That happened to us a couple times. I thought our kids fought really hard, but I think this game was very similar to a lot of our games this year.
“If you look at the way we play about 90 percent of the plays are maybe top tier in this league, but unfortunately you have to count all plays. There have been three or four plays on each side of the ball in every game, particularly this one, where we’ve made mistakes and either didn’t take advantage or didn’t capitalize on the situation we were in.”
Heading in to their annual Southeastern Conference gridiron showdown, the Florida and Tennessee football teams were headed in opposite directions.
The Gators had won five consecutive games, while the Volunteers had dropped five straight contests.
The teams remained on their respective paths as Florida defeated UT, 31-19, Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Dec 5, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen watches from the sidelines during the first half against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
The Gators (8-1, 8-1 SEC) left Rocky Top with the SEC East division championship. Meanwhile, the Volunteers saw their struggles continue and now have lost six straight games for the first time since 1988.
Tennessee (2-6, 2-6 SEC) had a 7-3 lead after freshman quarterback Harrison Bailey, making his first career collegiate start, threw a touchdown pass to Eric Gray with 9 minutes, 59 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
After that, it was pretty much downhill for the Big Orange as Florida scored the next 21 points.
The Gators, who led 17-7 at halftime, scored two more touchdowns after the break.
Dec 5, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Florida Gators quarterback Kyle Trask (11) warms up before the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Quarterback Kyle Trask had another 400-plus yard game.
He finished Saturday’s game with 433 yards and four touchdowns while completing 35 of his 49 pass attempts.
He now has a nation-leading 38 touchdown passes.
Meanwhile, the Vols used three quarterbacks against the Gators and redshirt senior Jarrett Guarantano was not one of them. He was on the sideline, but reportedly missed the game due COVID-19 contact tracing. He was one of several players to miss the game.
Dec 5, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Harrison Bailey (15) hands the ball off to running back Eric Gray (3) during the first half against the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Bailey started and went 14-for-21 with 111 yards and a touchdown. Brian Maurer played, going 1-for-1 for eight yards and rushing for one yard on his lone carry of the contest.
J.T. Shrout entered the game late and threw a touchdown pass and leading the Vols on a pair of scoring drives. He was 12-for-14 while amassing 121 yards through the air.
Defensively, Tennessee played well at times. The Vols forced the Gators to a pair of consecutive three-and-outs and is the only team to accomplish that feat this season.
Freshman quarterback Harrison Bailey had his first career start Saturday against No. 6 Florida (8-1, 8-1 SEC). The Gators defeated Tennessee (2-6, 2-6 SEC), 31-19.
The 6-foot-5, 225-pound freshman finished the contest 14-of-21, 111 yards and one touchdown.
Bailey was 8-of-12 for 71 yards and one touchdown in the first half.
