This team plays so hard so often. It gets more from Yves Pons than we bargained for at the start of the year and more from John Fulkerson that we had to have as the year went on. It gets more from Santiago Vescovi than anyone in his situation should be asked to give.

When you throw all that together, even without Lamonte Turner, it became a team that scratched and clawed and fought its way to stay on the fringe, to give itself a chance in the last month of the season to still make the NCAA Tournament. That would’ve been truly remarkable, and the head coach agreed: this week in The Athletic Rick Barnes said of stealing a tournament bid, “It might be the biggest accomplishment we’ve ever had, to be honest with you, with what we’ve gone through.”

Today, at #13 Auburn, Fulkerson picked up two fouls in the first three minutes and sat the rest of the first half. He could, because Davonte Gaines came off the bench and played out of his mind, grabbing five rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

Then Vescovi hit the bench with foul trouble a few minutes later. And a scenario could’ve unfolded where the Vols struggled to function offensively, Auburn found its groove, and the Vols simply didn’t have it. Maybe we never should’ve expected them to have it this year once Lamonte Turner went down.

Instead, we got what should’ve been the Jordan Bowden game: 17 points and five assists in the first half, scoring or assisting on 10 of the Vols’ 13 made shots. He finished with a career high 28 points on just 12 shots.

The Vols led by eight at halftime, got Fulkerson back in the flow, and immediately opened it up to a 17-point advantage, 54-37, with 14:35 left.

Not only were Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament hopes alive, they were kicking. The Vols were in the midst of their best performance of the season, and a rejuvenated Bowden changed our beliefs about this team’s ceiling.

On the other end of the floor, Vescovi was called for his fourth foul. He exited with the Vols up 17. Here are Tennessee’s next nine offensive possessions via ESPN’s play-by-play:

  • Jalen Johnson turnover
  • John Fulkerson turnover
  • John Fulkerson turnover
  • Jordan Bowden turnover
  • Yves Pons miss
  • Josiah James turnover
  • John Fulkerson miss
  • 10 second violation
  • John Fulkerson miss

Auburn took the lead 55-54 with 8:06 to play.

The Vols didn’t fold, to their credit. Bowden’s cock-back dunk put the Vols back up three with 5:15 to play. Auburn hit a 7-0 spurt in response that featured the Vols fouling a three-point shooter and a turnover from Josiah James. Free throws from Vescovi and Bowden tied it again at 64-64; when Auburn hit a three, Vescovi hit a two to make it 67-66 Auburn with 1:15 to go.

Here, you have to credit Anfernee McLemore for hitting a really tough shot over Pons. Yves played well on both ends and had several shots rattle out, and just missed a big block on this play.

Auburn led by three with 45 seconds to go, and the Vols turned it over one more time, the sixth of the day from Josiah James. The Tigers finished it off at the free throw line, trailing 54-37 with 14:35 to go and winning 73-66.

In that piece from The Athletic, Barnes mentions a note from Admiral Schofield’s talk with the team after the Vanderbilt win: the Vols were in a similar spot three years ago, Schofield’s sophomore season in 2017. Tennessee was 14-10 (6-5) and hosting Georgia. The comparison is even more apt now: in that game the Vols were up 53-39 with 15:15 to play in Knoxville. They got J.J. Fraziered and lost by one point.

Both of those Tennessee teams played hard, played well against good teams, and gave themselves a chance. It’s been especially painful then, on these last two Saturdays, to watch the Vols give that chance away against good teams on the road by turning the ball over. Four turnovers in the last two minutes at South Carolina. Twenty-four all told today, including four in a row and six in nine possessions to let Auburn back in the game, and four others down the stretch to keep the Vols out of it. John Fulkerson finished with four turnovers, Vescovi five to just three assists. And Josiah James turned it over six times, including the last one.

It hurts more this way: play hard, give yourself a chance to overachieve, and then give that chance away. It’s worth noting what happened to those 2017 Vols after that loss to Georgia: with Robert Hubbs on the mend, Tennessee lost four of its last six, then lost to Georgia at the buzzer in the SEC Tournament, finishing 16-16 and missing not only the NCAAs but the NIT as well.

We’ll see what becomes of this Tennessee team, who played above themselves well enough to create genuine disappointment when they couldn’t finish it off. It will serve them well going forward. It just hurts a lot more today.

Go Vols.