Vols Rally Past Xavier

The questions marks are not gone, but the Vols put an exclamation point on its NCAA resume with today's 82-75 win over the Xavier Musketeers.

In a physical, foul-heavy game, the Vols relied on its depth, defense and hustle to get past a tough Xavier team. The game seemed to be Xavier's for the taking in the second half as the Vols struggled to score or gel offensively, but Pearl's masterful substitutions allowed Tennessee to keep its defensive intensity as the Musketeers seemed to run out of gas.

Pearl went to his bench early and often during the game, getting major minutes from J.P. Prince, Ryan Childress and Ramar Smith. Even if the Vols do not have a bunch of 5 star recruits on their squad, they can go 9 or 10 deep without losing too much momentum.

That depth and Pearl's willingness to play his bench allowed the Vols to get into the passing lanes and on the floor after loose balls in the final minutes while Xavier labored to match the intensity. The play of the game involved Ramar Smith coming off the Volunteer bench and laying out onto the floor to get to recover a loose ball. There were three Musketeers with a chance at the ball, but Smith beat them all to the floor and created the turnover for the Vols.

The defense bailed out the Vols throughout the afternoon as the offense struggled. A continuing concern for Pearl and the Vols is the lack of rhythm, chemistry and effectiveness out of the Vols half-court offense. With Xavier hugging Chris Lofton at all times, the other Vols needed to shoulder the scoring load. Only J.P. Prince answered the call, putting 23 points up off the bench. The Vols still have no back-to-the-basket game without Duke Crews and got next to nothing out of JuJuan Smith, Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith in the half-court. If Tennessee is going to advance to the Sweet Sixteen and beyond this season, the half-court offense must improve.

The question marks, however, do not overshadow the positives coming out of Cincinnati. The Vols overcame some tough officiating (including one of the all-time worst technical fouls ever whistled), a raucous crowd and a tough Xavier opponent. Without a doubt, this was the biggest win of the year for the Vols and will look impressive to the NCAA tournament committee in March.

Next Saturday - the Vols travel to Gonzaga for it next biggest road test of the season.