Gameday Today: Vols hoops defense travels, recruiting heats up

Hoops

Tennessee did its part in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge/Showdown/Clash/Contest, throttling Iowa State 68-45 on Saturday. To be fair, the Cyclones did some throttling of their own early, but Tennessee was the first and only team to find its offense, finding the right combination in bench guards James Daniel III (JD3, anyone?) and Lamonte Turner. The Cyclones never found their offense, and 45 points was the lowest total for the team since 2009. Defense, yo. It’s what’s for dinner.

If you missed it . . . well, first, stop that . . . but also watch the highlights:

As that highlight package shows, JD3 was key in the game, and he was just as impressive in his post-game interview with Bob and Bert. The Vols are now 7-3 away from home overall, 5-7 in true road games and 2-3 in neutral-site games.

Also noteworthy is Turner, who’s not only been casually tossing daggers into the hearts of opponents most of the season but also playing professional keepaway:

His scoring is what will be most talked about, but @Vol_Hoops sophomore @LTurn1 is riding a streak of 79+ consecutive minutes played without a turnover, dating to the first half at South Carolina Jan. 20. pic.twitter.com/SGwA4OTbnc

— Tom Satkowiak (@TomSatkowiak) January 28, 2018

Which of course means he’ll now throw it right to a defender on the first possession against LSU Wednesday, but that tweet will still live forever.

The Lady Vols? Uh, having a bit of trouble lately, most recently having lost on the road to LSU, 70-59.

Recruiting

If you’re looking for all of the latest developments over this past weekend on the recruiting front, 247Sports has a premium post with all of the particulars ($$$).

The Vols appear to have missed on defensive tackle Coynis Miller, but are still in the running for some highly-touted guys.

For a national perspective, check out this post from SB Nation, which includes a nod to Vols receiver commit Jordan Young’s highlight tape.

Other fun stuff

SEC Country predicts a 6-6 or 7-5 regular season record for the Vols next season (notably with a win over Florida, though, so there’s that), which sounds better when you remember that Kirby Smart went 8-5 with a bowl win in his first season with Georgia. We’ll take that first year if we can have the second, too, please.

And finally, GETTING TOO CLOSE TO BRUCE PEARL DURING BASKETBALL GAMES IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH:

Bruce Pearl got a liiiiiiittle carried away 😂 #SCNotTop10 pic.twitter.com/ukCGbUvr2A

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 28, 2018