National Basketball Association
Tennessee 92, NC-Greensboro 63
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, November 11, 2011
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee
Officials:
# Bruce Benedict, # Marc Ellard, # Tim Gattis
Attendance:
17483
By SportsDirect Inc.
Tennessee’s new coach and playmaker produced the same old winning result, crushing UNC-Greensboro 92-63 in the season opener for both teams.
Cuonzo Martin made his coaching debut in Knoxville, replacing Bruce Pearl, who was fired in March. Martin continued Pearl’s aggressive full-court defense but employed a much smoother motion offense that was supposed to ease in a crop of inexperienced players on a team that lost its top two leading scorers from last season. Trae Golden scored a career-high 29 points and hit five of the Vols’ 15 3-pointers.
Senior guard Cameron Tatum was thought to be the focal point of the offense as he was the top returning scorer for Tennessee (1-0), but Tatum, finished with just seven points. Martin preached an open competition for scoring duties and through one game, it looks like Golden will be the go-to guy.
Golden, who averaged just 13 minutes a year ago, delivered nine assists for the three-guard offense, as the Vols dropped 21 assists on 31 field goals. There’s still plenty of concern in the paint, as UNC-Greensboro (0-1) grabbed 16 offensive boards. The Vols were outscored in the paint in their final two exhibition games and didn't carry a distinct physical advantage inside against a team picked to finish sixth in the Southern Conference.
Top Game Performances
| NC-Greensboro |
|
Tennessee |
|
Korey Van Dussen 12 |
Scoring |
Trae Golden 29 |
|
Derrell Armstrong 3 |
Assists |
Trae Golden 9 |
|
Derrell Armstrong 8 |
Rebounds |
Renaldo Woolridge 8 |
|
Korey Van Dussen 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Trae Golden 4 |
|
Korey Van Dussen 3 |
Steals |
Trae Golden 2 |
|
Aloysius Henry 1 |
Blocks |
Yemi Makanjuola 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| NC-Greensboro
|
63 |
41.5 |
3-10 |
6-15 |
12 |
30 |
1 |
8 |
|
| Tennessee
|
92 |
64.6 |
15-24 |
15-22 |
21 |
30 |
6 |
7 |
|