Blake Shelton shared a little treat for fans who are getting ready for the return of The Voice next week.
Blake, and fellow judges, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and Nick Jonas all contribute to a fantasy rendition of Rick Astley‘s “Together Forever” – with the tag, “Here’s a little treat to get y’all excited for the premiere of The Voice next week! #TeamBlake”
You can see the promo here…
Blake, Kelly, John and Nick did a great job…but it’s Blake going solo on his current country single — “Minimum Wage.” Watch the music video for it right here…
Reba McEntire shared on social media that she is making a return appearance to the hit CBS show Young Sheldon.
With the message “June’s back! Don’t miss her return to Young Sheldon (Thursday) night at 8/7c on CBS!”
Reba first appeared on the show last season as “June” — the ex-wife of “Meemaw”‘s (Annie Potts) boyfriend “Dale” (Craig T Nelson).
Thursday February, 25th, on the episode titled “Crappy Frozen Ice Cream and an Organ Grinder’s Monkey” (no, seriously, that’s the title of the episode) Reba returns, as “June” and “Dale” try to convince “Meemaw” to attend their son’s wedding.
You can see what happens on Young Sheldon on Thursday, February 25th, on CBS.
Headline Photo Credit: Robby Klein
Additional Image Courtesy of Reba McEntire
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Ten different players recorded a hit and Tennessee’s pitching staff struck out 16 batters in a dominating 21-1 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Tuesday’s home opener at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The 16th-ranked Vols (4-0) scored runs in six different innings, including an 11-run outburst in the bottom of the eighth to win their third straight home opener.
Max Ferguson hit his first home run of the year and led the team with four RBI while Jordan Beck had another solid game, going 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and three RBI to pace the offensive onslaught. Pete Derkay added a home run for the Vols, as well.
Seven players made their Tennessee debuts in the win, including redshirt junior pitcher Jason Rackers, who got the starting nod and pitched two solid innings for the Vols after returning from Tommy John surgery.
Senior left hander Will Heflin got the win for UT, striking out eight consecutive batters at one point in his relief appearance. The Morristown native pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk. The foursome of Will Mabrey, Connor Housley, Zander Sechrist and Kirby Connell combined to pitch the final 3.2 innings and allowed just one hit.
Another player that shined in his collegiate debut was freshman outfielder Kyle Booker. The Mississippi native got the start in center field and finished with a run and three RBI while also making a couple nice defensive plays.
A solo home run by Humberto Maldonado in the second inning accounted for the only run for the Golden Lions (0-1).
Tennessee and UAPB face off again tomorrow with first pitch slated for 4:30 p.m. The game can be seen on WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app.
UT also had a handful of players record their first career hits in Booker, Lawson, Payne and Logan Steenstra.
TAKE A SEAT: Tennessee’s pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts and walked just one batter on the day. Senior lefty Will Heflin, making his first appearance since 2019 after undergoing knee surgery prior to the 2020 season, struck out eight batters in 3.1 innings of work. Connor Housley was also impressive, striking out the side in his one inning of work.
BIG EIGHTH INNING: The Vols exploded for 11 runs in the eighth inning, cranking out nine hits in the frame. Six different players recorded a base hit in the inning and six of the nine total hits went for extra bases.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 20/21 Tennessee (13-6, 7-4 SEC) embarks on the final road trip and last week of the 2020-21 regular season, traveling to Columbia for a Thursday evening battle with Missouri (8-9/4-8 SEC). The Lady Vols and Tigers will tip it off at 7:02 p.m. CT (8:02 ET) at Mizzou Arena.
After facing ranked teams in its last four games, UT will play against a pair of unranked Tiger teams at MU on Thursday and vs. Auburn on Sunday to wrap things up prior to the SEC Tournament.
UT is holding down fourth place in the SEC standings and is trying to seize one of the double byes for the league tourney after being predicted to finish sixth in the preseason coaches and media polls. Mizzou, meanwhile, was picked to finish 10th and 11th in the league polls. The Tigers are currently occupying 10th, but they have been in a number of close SEC games that narrowly escaped their grasp.
Kellie Harper‘s squad, no doubt, is benefiting from having the normal break between Sunday and Thursday games, allowing her team to get its legs back and have two full practices and a shoot-around prior to facing Missouri. It also is glad to see its opponents on equal footing, as three of the last four UT foes (UK, A&M and UGA) had enjoyed open dates prior to facing the Lady Vols and, of course, Tennessee had endured its 77-hour road trip/ordeal to Texas A&M/Houston, thanks to Winter Storm Uri.
UT enters having lost three of its last four, but the one victory was over No. 2/3 South Carolina, 75-67, on Feb. 18. UT then fell to No. 22/23 Georgia on Sunday, 57-55, with Rennia Davis having a game-winning three-point attempt knocked off course by a Bulldog defender.
MU has split its last four contests and comes off a 96-80 home victory vs. Florida on Sunday.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Thursday’s game will be streamed by SECN+, with Nate Gatter (PxP) and former Mizzou Tiger Jordan Roundtree (Analyst) on the call.
Institutions can produce for SEC Network+ (SECN+) any conference and non-conference games that are not otherwise televised. Those are available on the ESPN app and SECSports.com.
All of the games included in the ESPN package (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU) and the SEC Network will be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.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 One to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.
The contest also can be heard on Lady Vol Network radio stations and by audio stream, with Mickey Dearstone behind the microphone. Now calling the action for his 22nd season, Dearstone is joined by studio host Bobby Rader.
A link to the live audio stream can be found on each game’s Hoops Central page or the Lady Vol schedule on UTSports.com.
For a list of Lady Vol Network affiliates, please click on the Fans tab at the top of UTSports.com, select Vol Network and then click on Vol Network Affiliates in the black bar at the top of the page.
Air time for games on the Lady Vol Radio Network generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
LADY VOL STATUS UPDATE
With two regular-season games to go, Tennessee is vying for a top-four seeding in the SEC Tournament, which earns the all-important double bye.
If Kellie Harper‘s squad can pull that off, it would mark UT’s first Friday debut at the tournament since 2015, when the Lady Vols were seeded fourth and advanced to the finals before falling to South Carolina.
UT tied for third in the SEC standings a year ago but was relegated to the No. 6 seed by virtue of tie breakers.
The Lady Vols are in play for a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and helped their cause with an eight-point win over No. 2/3 South Carolina on Feb. 18.
Tennessee has posted four victories over ranked teams (No. 13/13 Arkansas, No. 15/15 Indiana, No. 12/12 Kentucky, No. 2/3 South Carolina), marking the most in a season since 2017-18 when it had seven.
UT also suffered setbacks to four squads ranked at the time it played them: No. 3/5 UConn (67-61), No. 20/18 Kentucky (71-56), No. 6/5 Texas A&M (80-70) and No. 22/23 Georgia (57-55), with Rennia Davis missing the UK game due to medical reasons.
Tennessee’s other two losses are to a pair of teams who are now ranked but weren’t at the time: No. 18/22 West Virginia (79-73 OT) and No. 17/18 Georgia (67-66).
BIG ORANGE SLICES
UT is paced in scoring in all games by junior guard Rae Burrell (16.9 ppg.) and senior forward Rennia Davis (16.0 ppg., 8.7 rpg.), with sophomore center Tamari Key chipping in 9.2 ppg. and 5.4 rpg., and sophomore point guard Jordan Horston contributing 8.2 ppg. and 4.0 apg.
In SEC play, three Tennessee players are scoring in double figures, including Davis (19.1 ppg.), Burrell (17.1) and Key (11.4). Davis ranks No. 6 in the SEC, while Burrell is 11th.
Against ranked foes, Davis and Burrell are putting up 20.3 and 18.0 ppg., respectively.
Davis has seven double-doubles this season and 36 for her career, tying Glory Johnson for fourth all-time at Tennessee.
UT has had 20+ scorers in its last six games, including Rennia Davis vs. Ole Miss (21), Tamari Key vs. Florida (23), Rae Burrell vs. Kentucky (22) and Rennia Davis vs. Texas A&M (25), South Carolina (24) and Georgia (22).
For the season, Davis has six 20-point games, Burrell five and Key 1. Davis has 19 for her career now and is one shy of tying Meighan Simmons for sixth all-time at Tennessee.
Davis stands 13th on UT’s all-time scoring list with 1,688 points and is 14th on the rebounding list with 891 boards.
Sophomore Tamari Key, who is one of the SEC’s top shot blockers along with Jenna Staiti (UGA) and Aliyah Boston (USC), averages 2.8 bpg. in all games to rank third and is tied for second in SEC contests at 3.4 bpg.
Key has broken into the Lady Vol career blocks top 10 as a sophomore and stands eighth with 139 in 50 career games for an average of 2.78 that ranks No. 1 in Tennessee history. Candace Parker is second (2.50).
Another sophomore, Jordan Horston, is tied for fifth at Tennessee in career assists average at 4.38 apg. through 50 games.
WHAT’VE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY
Rennia Davis dropped 20+ points in her last three games, all against ranked foes, and averaged 23.7 ppg.
She had 25 vs. #6/5 Texas A&M, 24 vs. #2/3 South Carolina and 22 vs. #22/23 Georgia.
Davis was named SEC Player of the Week on Feb. 23 for averaging 23.0 ppg. and 9.0 rpg. last week in games vs. #2/3 South Carolina and No. 22/23 Georgia.
Kasiyahna Kushkituah has pulled down an average of 10.0 rebounds over the past five contests, including a career-high-tying 13 vs. Georgia on Feb. 21.
Tamari Key has blocked 26 shots over her last five games, averaging 5.2 per contest. She has as many or more blocks than Mississippi State (26), Missouri (26), Auburn (23) and Florida (23) have recorded during the entire SEC schedule.
Rennia Davis is 20 of 23 and Tamari Key is 10 of 12 at the free-throw line the past three games.
RECAPPING UT’S LAST GAME
No. 21/21 Tennessee pulled within one in the final seconds at No. 22/23 Georgia but couldn’t overcome a tough day offensively, falling 57-55 in Stegeman Coliseum on Feb. 21.
Senior Rennia Davis led Tennessee (13-6, 7-4 SEC) with 22 points and six rebounds. Junior Rae Burrell turned in 10 points and five rebounds, and senior Kasiyahna Kushkituah pulled down 13 rebounds to tie her career high.
Gabby Connally was the high scorer for Georgia (17-4, 9-4 SEC), finishing with 24 points. Que Morrison was also in double figures with 11 points, and Jenna Staiti grabbed 12 boards.
UT-MIZZOU SERIES NOTES
The Lady Vols hold a 11-3 all-time record vs. Missouri, dating back to Jan. 14, 1978, with Tennessee winning the past three meetings.
Against Mizzou, the Lady Vols are 5-1 in games played in Knoxville, 2-0 at neutral sites, and 4-2 in Columbia.
UT owns an 8-3 mark against Missouri since the Tigers joined the SEC. Robin Pingeton has been the head coach in Columbia that entire time, and this is Kellie Harper‘s second season.
Tennessee beat MU, 84-39, in Knoxville on Jan. 10, 2013, in their first-ever SEC meeting. Later that season Mizzou evened the score, defeating UT, 80-63, in Columbia.
Prior to 2013, the Lady Vols defeated Missouri as a non-conference foe three times, most recently at the 2010 Paradise Jam tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands, 82-44.
Three of the past five meetings between these schools have resulted in a four-point game in Columbia in 2018 (MU, 77-73) and two-point differentials in Knoxville (MU, 66-64) and Columbia (UT, 62-60) in 2019.
Kellie Harper‘s first two games vs. the Tigers while leading the Lady Vols included a 10-point home win and a 13-point neutral site triumph at the SEC Tournament that came after her squad overturned a 13-point deficit.
Tennessee’s Kellie Harper is 4-4 vs. Missouri, with the first two wins coming while leading Missouri State (2-4 vs. MU) from 2013-19 and the most recent two coming on Jan. 2, 2020, in Knoxville (77-66) and March 5, 2020, in the SEC Tournament at Greenville, S.C. (64-51), as UT’s head coach (2-0).
Harper is 2-2 in home games, 0-2 away and 2-0 at neutral sites vs. the Tigers.
Missouri State won its first two vs. Mizzou under Harper’s tutelage in 2013 and 2014 and lost a four-point decision to the Tigers in 2018-19 at Columbia, 65-61, before the Bears got their train rolling toward a berth in the NCAA Sweet 16.
Tennessee’s Marta Suárez and Missouri’s Mama Dembele were schoolmates at Joaquim Blume Institute and teammates in Spain’s LF2 League with Segle XXI Barcelona.
ABOUT MISSOURI
The Tigers feature four players averaging double figures in points, with Ladazhia Williams (14.5), Aijha Blackwell (14.0), Hayley Frank (13.1) and Shug Dickson (10.2) providing a balanced offensive arsenal.
Missouri has made 120 three-pointers this season and hits at a 38.1 percent clip, led by Hayley Frank’s 46.9 percent marksmanship.
Mizzou has close losses to Arkansas (twice), LSU, Texas A&M and Kentucky.
RECAPPING MIZZOU’S LAST GAME
Missouri (8-9, 4-8 SEC) sank a program-record 18 three-pointers en route to a 96-80 win over Florida (10-11, 3-10 SEC) last Sunday in Columbia.
The Tigers’ 96 points matched a season-best from their opener vs. North Alabama on Nov. 27.
Prior to the game, Mizzou honored its two seniors on the roster, redshirt senior guard Shug Dickson and redshirt senior forward Shannon Dufficy, who contributed to the win in a huge way by scoring 20 and 19 points, respectively.
The sophomore duo of forward Hayley Frank (26) and guard Aijha Blackwell (21) gave MU three players tallying 20 or more points.
THE LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET
No. 6 seed Tennessee overcame a 13-point second-quarter deficit and ended up winning by 13, in a 64-51 victory over 11th-seeded Missouri in the second round of the SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C., on March 5, 2020.
UT (21-9), which won its fourth straight game, put three players in double figures. Sophomore Rae Burrell led the team with 16 points, and juniors Rennia Davis and Kasiyahna Kushkituah finished with 15 and 13, respectively.
Missouri (9-22) was led by Aijha Blackwell with 13 and Hannah Schuchts with 11.
LAST TIME IN COLUMBIA
Tennessee earned a hard-fought win over Missouri on Feb. 17, 2019, coming from four points down in the final stanza to claim a 62-60 triumph in front of a crowd of 8,559 at Mizzou Arena.
Sophomore forward Rennia Davis logged her 17th career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Vols (17-8, 6-6 SEC).
MU (19-8, 8-5 SEC) was led by Amber Smith with 14 points and five rebounds. Sophie Cunningham and Cierra Porter were close behind with 13 apiece.
WHAT’S NEXT
Tennessee has one remaining regular-season contest after Thursday, as Auburn comes to Knoxville for a 2 p.m. ET match-up on Sunday (SEC Network).
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. RV/23/24 Tennessee softball continues an action-packed week with outings against Illinois State on Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET, and a solo matchup with UT-Martin on Thursday at 5 p.m., to kickstart UT’s slate at the four-day Tennessee Invitational at Sherri Parker Lee.
The Lady Vols are coming off a pair of decisive wins against Ohio where they outhit the Bobcats 20-7 including combining for six homers. UT
Tennessee Invitational Schedule Game Date Time (ET) Match Up
Game 1* Wednesday, 2/24 5:00pm Tennessee vs Illinois State
Game 2 Thursday, 2/25 2:30pm UT-Martin vs Illinois State
Game 3 Thursday, 2/25 5:00pm Tennessee vs UT-Martin
Game 4 Friday, 2/26 10:00am N. Kentucky vs Central Michigan
Game 5 Friday, 2/26 12:30pm Illinois State vs UT-Martin
Game 6 Friday, 2/26 3:00pm Illinois State vs N. Kentucky
Game 7 Saturday, 2/27 10:00am N. Kentucky vs UT-Martin
Game 8 Saturday, 2/27 12:30pm Tennessee vs N. Kentucky
Game 9 Saturday, 2/27 3:00pm Tennessee vs C. Michigan
Game 10 Saturday, 2/27 5:30pm Illinois St. vs N. Kentucky
Game 11Sunday, 2/28 9:30am C. Michigan vs N. Kentucky
Game 12Sunday, 2/28 12:00pm Tennessee vs C. Michigan
*- Not a part of the Tennessee Invitational
Broadcast Information
All contests that include Tennessee will be broadcast on the SECN+, except for Wednesday’s solo matchup with Illinois State. Thursday’s outing will be called by Michael Wottreng (PxP). Saturday’s games will be covered by Madison Shipman (Analysis) and Will Boling (PxP) and Sunday’s contest will pair up Shipman and Wottreng.
Fans can also listen to the action, for Lady Vols games only, online at UTsports.com by clicking the listen link on the schedule page or by downloading the Tennessee Gameday App, with Brian Rice calling all of the action.
Live stats will be available for all games.
Quick Hits BOMB-tastic Offense
Through eight games the Lady Vols’ power at the plate has proven to be potent. UT ranks 10th in the nation in home runs per game (2.12); fourth in the SEC. The Tennessee offense has combined for four homers in two games so far this season (Game 1 vs EKU, Feb. 14 & Game 1 vs Ohio, Feb. 22), which ties for seventh in program history for combined homers in a game. That mark has only been reached 17 times in UT annals, including the two this season. Graduate senior Cailin Hannon and sophomore Kiki Milloy co-lead the Lady Vols with four homers each, which ties for 16th in the country. For Hannon, it is a noteworthy accomplishment as the outfielder combined for five home runs through her first four seasons (2017-2020) on Rocky Top.
Hit Makers
UT’s bats have been the loudest in the conversation including during its most recent doubleheader against Ohio (Feb. 22). The Lady Vols outhit the Bobcats 20-7 during the twin bill that resulted in a 7-1 victory and an 11-2, five-inning W. The Orange and White is slugging a .646 mark, which ranks third in the SEC and 15th in the nation. The Lady Vol are more than doubling their opponents in total hits, 60-29 with a season-high 14-hit showing against Ohio in game 2.
Poison Ivy
Transfer senior Ivy Davis has undoubtedly engendered some tension in the circle, batting a team-high .471 clip. The Huntington Beach, Calif., native had recorded eight hits, seven of which have been for extra bases. In addition to her three yard balls, Davis has added four doubles to the ledger which is the 12th most in the nation. She also holds a 1.235 slugging percentage, which ranks sixth in the league. The dynamic shortstop has also been perfect in fielding (1.000) in arguably the most difficult defensive spot on the field.
Fielding Finesse
The Lady Vols defense paces the SEC and ranks 14th nationally in fielding percentage (.990). Twelve members of the UT squad remain perfect in fielding through the opening eight games with just two errors committed so far. Tennessee opened the season as one of the best defenses in the nation after turning 17 doubles (0.74 dpg) which topped the SEC and was No. 2 nationally. UT has turned a trio of double plays so far this season. Redshirt senior Chelsea Seggern opted to return for her extra year granted by the NCAA, benefiting both sides of the ball for UT. Seggern helped turn 14 of the 17 doubles.
SCOUTING REPORT Illinois State 2021 record: 1-1, 0-0 MVC Series record: Tennessee leads 7-0 Last outing: No. 9 Tennessee downed the Redbirds seven-inning shutout, 6-0 in Knoxville on March 10, 2015. Key player/stat: The Redbirds started the 2021 season with a shutout win over North Florida, led by senior pitcher Morgan Day who finished the day with 12 strikeouts. Day’s shutout win of the Ospreys marks the 12th of her career, as the right-hander gave up just one hit while allowing a trio of walks. Traveling to Jacksonville, Fla. for the River City Leadoff, the Redbirds fell to Clemson in a Tigers shutout win, 11-0.
UT-Martin 2021 record: 4-0, 0-0 OVC Series record: Tennessee leads 1-0 Last outing: No. 20 Tennessee defeated the Skyhawks with a walk-off run, 3-2 in Knoxville on Feb. 25, 2020. Key player/stat: The Skyhawks started their season with doubleheader sweeps against Evansville and Alabama A&M at the Black and Gold Tournament. Freshman Kaci Fuller led the Skyhawks’ offensive momentum, going 7-for-8 with a double, two RBI’s and three stolen bases. The UT-Martin squad had a team batting average of .448 on the day, with six extra base hits and 14 RBIs. Pitchers Alexis Groet, Seeley Layne and Erin Gallagher combined for 19 strikeouts.
Central Michigan 2020 record:6-13, 0-0 MAC Series record:Never played each other before Key player/stat:The Chippewas return lead hitters in sophomore Gisele Acuña (.304) and senior Tala Dean (.302) who combined for 30 hits. CMU in total boasts 12 returners, but lost a big-time pinch hitter in Bella Robles who recorded eight hits in nine appearances and held a .421 hitting average.
Northern Kentucky 2020 record: 9-10, 0-0 HL Series record: Tennessee leads 1-0 Last outing:A 15th ranked Tennessee notched a win over Northern Kentucky at the KSU Classic, 15-2 on Feb. 8, 2015. Key player/stat:Last season, Northern Kentucky recorded 124 hits for 57 RBIs, 11 doubles, two triples and 12 home runs, collectively hitting only .239. They led the Horizon League in combined ERA (2.78), but lost ace Taylor Ginther who led the conference with a 1.67 average.
Tennessee basketball signee Kennedy Chandler was among 24 elite high school seniors selected as 2021 McDonald’s All-Americans Tuesday.
Due to the pandemic—and for the second year in a row—an actual McDonald’s All-American Game will not take place.
Chandler becomes the 10th Tennessee signee to earn McDonald’s All-American acclaim. And for only the second time in program history, a Vol signee has earned McDonald’s All-American status for three consecutive years.
Current Tennessee freshman Jaden Springer and sophomore Josiah-Jordan James were McDonald’s All-Americans in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Chandler attends Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas, and plans to enroll at UT this summer. Earlier this month, the 6-1 guard was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Jersey Mike’s Naismith High School Trophy for Boys Player of the Year award.
A five-star prospect rated by ESPN as the nation’s top point guard in the Class of 2021, Chandler has led the Buffaloes to a 20-2 record this season while playing an elite, national schedule.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes has now signed 18 McDonald’s All-Americans in his career, including three in his five-plus years with the Vols.
Tennessee’s previous McDonald’s All-American signees were Doug Roth (1985), Allan Houston (1989), Charles Hathaway (1996), Tony Harris (1997), Vincent Yarbrough (1998), Scotty Hopson (2008), Tobias Harris (2010), James (2019) and Springer (2020).
Kellie Harper & Rae Burrell – Lady Vols / Credit: UT Athletics
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee women’s basketball head coach Kellie Harper took questions from the media on Tuesday in a Zoom interview session that covered the Lady Vols’ upcoming games at Missouri (8-9/4-8 SEC) on Thursday and vs. Auburn (5-15, 0-12 SEC) for Sunday’s Senior Day game.
This week’s contests close out the regular season for #20/21 UT (13-6, 7-4 SEC), with the SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C., to follow on March 3-7 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
On what Missouri does well and what they have to be ready for on Thursday:
“Obviously, Missouri’s offense relies heavily on their ability to shoot the basketball, and their spacing is great. The other thing you can always count on, and I think you see it, they improve in this area all year in that they are really intelligent. So, whatever defensive game plan they have, they will execute it. And they can give you a variety of looks, because their kids are pretty savvy. They’re also really tough. They’re just tough, and they are going to make hustle plays all night. They’re going to know what they need to do to be successful. So, I think matchup-wise, they can pose some problems, because they can play five perimeter players.”
On how Rennia Davis has performed the last two games:
“Well, Rennia was able to, in our South Carolina game, be a go-to player in that second half. We got her the basketball. She was feeling good, knocking down shots, making plays. (She) really got us back ahead and pushed us over the top. At Georgia, when we were stagnant early, she was one of the players actually making some shots. It wasn’t easy. People were keying in on her and trying to make things tough for her, but I love to see that she is still able to find ways to be successful and be productive.”
On how much she focuses on the assist to turnover statistic and if she thinks it helps determine the outcome of a game, considering the assist to turnover ratio was 3 to 20 against Georgia:
“Well, you don’t want to see that number. Obviously, I think that’s a number that doesn’t scream success. That’s how Georgia plays, and they take you out of assists a lot of times and make you play one on one. And they’re a tough matchup for us because they do have good size and a physicality in the paint, but their guards just get down and guard. They are really good defensively, and obviously, that caused problems for us. To start the game, we had some opportunities to knock down some easy shots, and we just missed them; they rimmed out. You’ve got to be able to find ways to be productive. And as poorly as we played, we still had a chance at the end. I don’t want to discredit what Georgia did though, because I think their game plan was really solid.”
On what the seniors have meant to her:
“I group them in a couple different categories. Obviously, with Jaiden (McCoy), we brought her in and due to injuries, it’s been unfortunate that she’s not been able to be on the court as much as we had hoped. For Kasi (Kushkituah) and Rennia (Davis), just to see their growth in the small time that we had them has been really fun. I love all three of them, and I think they all have different personalities. They’ve been fun to be around, and I’m proud of where they have helped this team go. If you’re missing that senior leadership and missing that senior experience really pulling strongly, it’s a big piece, and obviously, that’s been really important to our team.”
On Keyen Green’s status for the rest of the season and eligibly moving forward:
“Obviously, with COVID and extra years, there are so many variables right now. We don’t want to make decisions about those types of things until after the season is over, except for Keyen. She’s in a different position. We knew she wasn’t going to have another opportunity to play this year, so we’ve had those discussions. As of right now, we are excited because she plans to come back next year.”
On what she expects her team to fix in the last two regular season games of the year heading into the SEC Tournament:
“We are hoping for good weather, good travel, and an opportunity to practice. I think that is as important for us right now as anything. We are excited about taking the court today and trying to really work on Tennessee rather than another team. I really feel like we’ve been focused on our opponents for the last couple weeks more so than us, so I’m excited we’ll get to work on us. Then, we’ll turn to Missouri tomorrow. What I’d like to see is for us to clean up some of the things that we need to do, some of the things we’ve gotten away from in the couple weeks that could make us a better basketball team if we can get a little more consistent. Some of that is on the defensive end, and some of it is on the offensive end. Before you go to the tournament, you want to make sure you’re cleaning up anything. You want to make sure if there is something that really stands out, that you’re working on that. At some point, between now and the tournament, we’ve got to worry about Missouri and Auburn. But before the tournament, you want to go through everything you’ve got in your arsenal. You want to review every defense you have, every offensive play, every thought you could possibly have, because you go over to Greenville and to the SEC tournament, you’ve got to pull out all the stops. You have to make sure your team is ready.”
On how Tamari Key can avoid fouls called against her and how those calls affect her play:
“I think early on this season, you could see her having some frustration fouls. Now, I think she’s learned that her worth is greater than maybe a cheap foul. She’s really worked on that. I think it’s an area that we need to emphasize. We can’t control everything, so we can’t control what is called and what’s not called. What we can control is our actions and trying to keep ourselves as clean as possible, in terms of foul trouble. We have to be able to control that, whatever is called, we can play out of it and not let frustration set in.”
On whether Coach Harper can tell before a game if her team is ready to play:
“No, but let me back up let me actually answer that. I usually have a pretty good idea, and this year I have felt like we have been ready to play just about every game. I did feel like our practice on Saturday was not great leading up to our Georgia game. We usually have really good practices, but I thought that Saturday practice was not one of those good ones. I thought that hurt us a little bit and then the fact that we didn’t get a shoot-around (Sunday morning) because of a noon game and four-and-a-half-hour bus ride. There was not a whole lot going in our favor going into this weekend, so as a Coach I am trying to figure out the right balance of moving on from this game versus learning from this game and figuring out what we need to be better at.”
On what she thinks about the team’s destiny, regarding SEC Tournament standings, being in their own hands going into this last week of regular season play:
“Yeah, so I think that is going to be something that we talk about today at practice. We were off yesterday, and that will be an area that we want to make sure we all understand what that means. Sometimes you can talk about it, but players don’t understand what that actually means. So we will be very specific about that, and you know one of the things I have talked to them about in the past is you want to be in a position to have some control. And when you are in a situation where hoping certain teams win so that the seeding falls a certain way it is just not a good place to be in. It does not feel good when you are hoping something else happens that you literally have no control over. So I think that we have to focus on what we can control while understanding the big picture but also take practice today and be the best we can be today. We have got to find a way to get better today, and then tomorrow we have to be prepared to play Missouri on Thursday, so I think every day there is a goal within the big picture.”
On how Coach Harper expects her point guards to bounce back on Thursday and how much she is putting a focus on getting point guard play back to the standard she expects:
“Well, the one thing that I will go back to is that all season long our team has bounced back. And I have been really proud of not just those particular players, but everybody has really bounced back after a loss. I think this one was pretty frustrating at Georgia, and I think this one is gonna be a big challenge for our team to bounce back from. So we will find out pretty quick what state of mind they are in. It’s not anything that we have to do differently, it’s literally going out and doing the things we have done all season long. For us, it is not an overly complicated game plan to just watch our team play and see where we are at. Like I said, I think the practice will be good for a lot of players and continue to give us confidence about what we need to do.”
Scotty McCreery spent a little me time in a very cold pool this week.
He made the Polar “Plunge in Place” as a part of the campaign to supported Special Olympics North Carolina. Scotty McCreery has been encouraging fans to join “Team Scotty” and make a donation, with the payoff of watching him get a cold soaking.
Scotty says, “Brrr! The water in that pool was under 40 degrees and COLD but it’s worth doing to support and bring attention to Special Olympics North Carolina and the work they do with more than 40,000 athletes.”
As you watch the video though you’ll notice Scotty doesn’t go it alone…his faithful best-friend Moose also makes the leap!
Fans watching Scotty’s plunge can still join “Team Scotty” if they haven’t already. You can make a donation to Special Olympics North Carolina this week at https://www.classy.org/team/338961
We’re pretty sure after the cold dip in the pool Scotty McCreery spent some “You Time” with a heater…
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee forward Rennia Davis was named SEC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week on Tuesday, marking the second time this season and sixth time in her career she has earned that distinction.
That’s the most career player of the week honors by any active league women’s basketball student-athlete and ties her with Chelsea Dungee of Arkansas and Aliyah Boston of South Carolina for most POTW accolades this season.
Davis averaged 23.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 assists last week, posting back-to-back 20-point scoring efforts and running her string to three consecutive games with 20 points or more. The 6-foot-2 senior shot 44.8 percent from the field, including 44.4 percent on threes, and was 16 of 18 from the free-throw line for 88.9 percent in games vs. #2/3 South Carolina and #22/23 Georgia.
Davis fired in a game-high 24 points and recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 12 rebounds as the Lady Vols beat the highest ranked team since 2017 in the 75-67 defeat of the Gamecocks. The victory snapped a 31-game SEC winning streak by South Carolina. The double-double tied Davis for fourth all-time in school history, with her 36 career efforts matching Glory Johnson. In that contest, vs. USC, Davis fired in all 24 of her points in the second half, going 6 of 8 from the field and 10 of 10 from the charity stripe as UT erased deficits of 16 in the second quarter, 12 at the half and 15 in the third quarter. Davis posted 11 of her points in the final stanza, nearly outscoring the Gamecocks’ 13 all by herself.
Against Georgia, Davis again led the UT charge, knocking down 23 and pulling down six boards in a tightly-contested affair. Ten of her points came in the second half, with eight part of UT’s fourth-quarter comeback that came up just short against perhaps the league’s top defensive team.
Davis is now averaging 19.1 ppg. and 9.3 rpg. vs. SEC foes and 20.3 ppg. and 11.8 rpg. against ranked teams after last week’s contests.
The Lady Vols are back in action on Thursday, as they travel to Missouri to face the Tigers at 8 p.m. ET (7 CT) in a contest streamed on SECN+.
