Why Vanderbilt’s Duke Miles was tough for Tennessee basketball to stop

NASHVILLE – Tennessee basketball has historically prided itself on its defense.

Recent great outside defenders Zachai Ziegler and Jamai Marshak have handed the reigns over to the younger backs. They’ve done a great job helping the Vols maintain the stingiest defense in the SEC.

advertise

Vanderbilt guard Duke Miles ripped through this vaunted defense to beat Tennessee (22-11) 75-68 in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on March 13 at Bridgestone Arena.

Myers joins Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard as the only players to score 30 or more points against Tennessee this season. On February 11, Hubbard scored 31 points in the team’s 74-63 loss to the University of Tennessee.

Myers scored 30 points on 11-of-14 shooting from Bridgestone Arena, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range.

He didn’t miss a shot until 12 minutes and 38 seconds into the second half.

“I’m hurt,” Tennessee sophomore guard Ethan Berg said. “My pride is hurt. My pride is hurt. The guy just scored 30 points and a lot of them were on me. I could have done better and I take full responsibility for that. I don’t know how much time we have until the (NCAA Tournament), but I’m going to work every day to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

advertise

Berger was assigned to Myers when he came off the bench, but sophomore Bishop Boswell also followed the senior.

“He does a really good job of attacking the gap, going downhill,” Boswell said of how Miles is so efficient. “Once he made some layups, he got to the free throw line and hit some threes, so he had a great game.”

Berg wasn’t just annoyed by Myers’ offensive outbursts. Tennessee last played against Vanderbilt on March 7 when Berg fouled out. He fouled them four more times in the SEC Championship Game.

“I have to defend without fouling,” Berg said four times.

advertise

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes mentioned the fouls as one of the “little things” the Vols need to clean up heading into March Madness. Boswell recalled that Barnes said they were “good enough to win a national championship.”

Berg believes the Walls already know what it takes to get to this level.

“At this stage of the season we already know what the coach wants and what the other coaches want,” he said. “We should be able to do that. We should do it today.”

Wynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. e-mail: wynton.jackson@knoxnews.com

Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks: knoxnews.com/subscribe

This article originally appeared in the Knoxville News-Sentinel: Why Tennessee is finding it hard to stop Duke Miles from scoring