Basketball Displaying items by tag: Trae Golden
BY JOSH PATE UTSports.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Trae Golden came off the bench for Tennessee to score 16 points and lead the Volunteers past Georgia 73-62 Saturday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Golden, who had started the previous 22 games this season, was replaced by Skylar McBee in the starting lineup. It was McBee's first career start.
"I just felt like Trae needed to work hard on both ends of the floor and really lead us as a point guard," said Tennessee head coach Cuonzo Martin. "Not necessarily in production or points, but just his approach and intensity level on the defensive side of the ball and really taking pride in it."
Golden responded. His aggressive drives to the basket resulted in him scoring 10 of his 16 points in the second half, going 5-of-6 from the foul line.
"It definitely lit a fire under me," Golden said of the demotion. "It wasn't like a negative fire. I just wanted to be a help to the team in any way I could and that's what I tried to do."
McBee also took advantage, dropping 10 points in the game and scoring three points in the final 19 seconds thanks to two technical fouls on Georgia head coach Mark Fox that resulted in his ejection.
Jeronne Maymon added 15 points and Jordan McRae scored 14.
Tennessee's guard combination of Golden, McRae and McBee combined for 40 points on the night while Georgia's zone defense and double team of Tennessee's post players made it tough for paint points.
"I thought they did a good job of making shots," Martin said. "I thought what was more impressive was our big guys accepting the double team and not turning the ball over because it's not an easy thing to do."
Georgia's (10-12, 1-7 Southeastern Conference) effort to close off the paint worked well early on, but the Bulldogs' post players got into quick foul trouble and the Vols finally found the rim from outside.
"We just were in such awful foul trouble and that obviously was a huge factor in the game," Fox said. "We had to play a football player (Jay Rome) five minutes in the first half just to stay out of foul trouble. But you have to give Tennessee credit. They made some key 3-point baskets."
Tennessee (11-12, 3-5 SEC) struggled most of the night from long range, going 7-of-22 from behind the arc. Yet trailing 41-34 with 14:42 to play, McRae drained a 3-pointer from the wing to spark the offense. Golden followed suit, faking a Georgia defender and nailing a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 41-40 Bulldogs with 13:46 to play.
Kenny Hall gave the Vols a 42-41 lead with a pair of free throws at the 13:14 mark, and Tennessee never trailed again.
With Tennessee up 48-47, Cameron Tatum's 3-pointer with 7:42 to play sparked a 13-3 run by the Vols down the stretch that was the difference.
McRae was the catalyst during that stretch, nailing a jumper as the shot clock expired and then following that with a 3-pointer. He closed the run with a three-point play to make it 61-51 Vols with 3:25 left to play.
"I'm just trying to stay positive and keep playing with confidence," McRae said. "Even this game, I'm going to watch film tomorrow and try to figure out what I can do better. I'm just really trying to get better defensively every day and keep my offense in mind, too."
Georgia scrapped in the final minute of the game, down 10. Nemanja Djurisic hit a 3 from the corner to make the Vols sweat, but it didn't matter when Fox was slapped with two technical fouls and ejected with 19 seconds remaining in the game. McBee hit three of the four foul shots, squelching Georgia's bid for a late comeback.
The Vols were 28-of-37 from the foul line, led by Maymon's 9-of-12 performance.
"We did a really good job of getting to the free throw line as a team," Martin said. "I think when Jeronne is making those free throws, he's really hard to defend. It really helps us out in so many areas."
Three Bulldogs scored in double figures, led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's 16 points. Dustin Ware added 15 points behind 6-of-7 shooting. Gerald Robinson had 13.
Georgia led 27-19 with 5:10 remaining in the first half when Tennessee shifted its offensive focus from behind the arc to inside the paint.
The Vols closed the first half on an 11-1 run behind three jumpers from Golden to lead 30-28 at the break.
Georgia, however, responded with its own 11-4 run to start the second half and take back the lead before the Vols' guards finally got hot from beyond the arc.
Tennessee stays at home this week when it hosts South Carolina Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena for an 8 p.m. tip-off (SEC Network).
BY JOSH PATE
UTSports.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Trae Golden tied a career-high by scoring 29 points and Skylar McBee added a career-high 16 points as Tennessee beat pesky Chattanooga 76-63 Monday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Vols made their living from beyond the 3-point arc, going 13-of-39 from long range and simply out-shooting the Mocs. The 39 3-point attempts were the second-most in school history, falling short of the record 50 set against North Carolina A&T on Nov. 27, 2007.
"Thirty-nine 3-pointers. I've got to go back and watch film tonight, but of the 39 probably 35 of them were good shots," said Tennessee head coach Cuonzo Martin. "The way they play you, you shoot a lot of 3s because they double the post so you swing the ball around the perimeter to have opportunities to score the ball. You have to take those shots."
Golden was the spark for the Vols, just three days after having surgery to repair his nasal fracture. He scored 19 of his points in the first 20 minutes and combined with McBee to turn a tie game into a 12-point Tennessee lead just before the half.
With the game tied at 27 and 4:04 remaining in the half, McBee hit a 3 to spark an 11-0 run by the Vols. Golden followed it with a layup and a 3 of his own. Then McBee finished the run with another long-range shot to make it 38-27 Tennessee.
McBee said the flurry of 3-point shots was by design based off of Chattanooga's defensive double-team in the paint.
"That's something that we worked on in practice," McBee said. "We knew that if we got the ball out of the post and reversed it then we would get some good looks, so I figured we would shoot a lot of 3-pointers."
Chattanooga responded when Keegan Bell hit a 3-pointer, but Golden converted a three-point play and then hit a 3-point shot as Tennessee went to break leading 44-32.
The Mocs came out in the second half and cut the margin to 5 behind three consecutive 3-pointers. The Vols, however, responded with a 3 from Jordan McRae and were able to make inside baskets from driving the basketball to keep Chattanooga at arm's length.
Golden's 29 points tied his output from the season opener against UNC Greensboro.
"You want your point guard to be aggressive," Martin said of Golden. "He has to be assertive more than anything. That's the biggest key, as long as he's making stuff happen."
Golden said it's a challenge to answer Martin's call for him to set the tone for the team each night, but that he seeks to take what is available from his point guard spot.
"I attacked the lane and if I had an open shot, I shot it," Golden said of his aggressiveness. "I was trying to hit our guys a lot. Their shots really weren't falling at first, but they got back. It's just something I've got to continue to work on."
McBee's 16 points came mostly from his long-range accuracy as he went 5-of-11 from 3-point land. McRae added 12 points for the Vols.
"We have so many guys on the team who can do good things off the dribble with Jordan, Trae and Cam," McBee said. "Everybody can penetrate. I kind of get the easy job of standing over there when the defense comes to stop them and I shoot from my side. It's thanks to those guys that I get shots."
Ricky Taylor led Chattanooga with 17 points as the Mocs had four players score in double figures.
The game began with a series of runs by both teams. Tennessee started the game on a 7-0 run, but Chattanooga responded to tie the game. Still, the Mocs made just 2 of their first 14 shots. Then the Vols rolled off 6 consecutive points before the Mocs scored 12 in a row to take a 21-16 lead with 7:23 to play in the half.
That's when Tennessee's long-range shooting finally started to fall and the Mocs couldn't keep pace. They were 11-of-26 from 3-point range, but the Vols recognized Chattanooga's defensive set and out-shot them from long range.
"It was a hard-fought win for the guys, but more importantly, we're getting better," Martin said. "I think that's always a good sign. You're able to make progress and also win a game."
The Vols head to Memphis on Wednesday for their final road non-conference game against another interstate foe. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET (FoxSports South). Tennessee lost to Memphis 99-97 in double overtime earlier this season when the two teams met at the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational in Hawaii.
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The Southeastern Conference announced Monday that Tennessee point guard Trae Golden has been named SEC Basketball Player of the Week following his breakthrough performance in the Vols' season-opening win over UNC Greensboro last Friday.
Golden--who in 31 previous career games played had never scored in double figures--exploded for 29 points, six rebounds, nine assists, two blocks and a steal in 27 dominant minutes against the Spartans. The Powder Springs, Ga., native's single-game totals for points, assists and field goals made (10) all rank first among SEC players so far this season.
In just the second start of the sophomore's career, Golden did not miss a 2-point field-goal attempt (5-5), and he shot 4-of-5 at the free-throw line while powering UT to a 92-63 victory.
But perhaps one of the most noteworthy aspects of his effort Friday was the fact that he shot 5-of-9 from 3-point range after making only six 3-pointers all of last season.
"I felt like they challenged me to shoot the three," Golden said after the game. "I only shot about 25 percent last season, so I would challenge me, too. I've been working on my shot, and the improvement is really repetition."
Behind Golden's effort, Tennessee shot an impressive .646 from the field as a team and .625 from 3-point range. The Vols currently lead the SEC in both statistical categories.
Golden and the Big Orange return to action Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET when they host ULM (0-1) at Thompson-Boling Arena.
By JOSH PATE UTSports.com
KNOXVILLE - The Cuonzo Martin Era got under way Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena, but it was Trae Golden who stole the show.
Golden scored a career-high 29 points and dished out nine assists in leading Tennessee to a 92-63 victory over UNC Greensboro in the season opener for both teams and the debut of Tennessee head coach Cuonzo Martin.
The explosive output by the Vols' sophomore point guard dwarfed his previous career-high of 8 points set last season against Memphis on Jan. 11.
"Guys did great job on both ends of the floor, playing as unit," Martin said. "They showed lot of energy. They approached the game with game-like mind-set and shot the ball well in the first half from the 3-point line. We had some good looks.
"Trae did a good job shooting and finding guys to distribute the ball. Nine assists and 29 points is impressive."
Some of Golden's teammates, however, have seen those outbursts before from Golden in high school and AAU basketball.
"The thing about Trae is that a lot of people are surprised to see what Trae can do," said fellow sophomore Jordan McRae, who grew up competing with and against Golden. "Trae playing like that doesn't surprise me at all. Trae is good. I've been seeing him play like that since he was 12, so I wouldn't expect anything less from Trae."
Golden's biggest contribution was from long range. He was 5-of-9 from 3-point land and 10-of-14 overall. And he converted two three-point plays with aggressive drives that drew fouls.
"I felt like they challenged me to shoot the 3," Golden said. "I only shot about 25 percent last season so I would challenge me, too. I having been working on my shot, and the improvement is really repetition."
Tennessee (1-0) placed three others in double figures with Jeronne Maymon scoring 15 points from the post. McRae added 14 points, and Renaldo Woolridge scored 11 points with eight rebounds.
The Vols shot 64.6 percent from the floor. They were 15-of-24 from long range, continuing the hot streak shown in the two preseason exhibition contests.
The Spartans (0-1) were led by Korey Van Dussen's 12 points.
The Vols raced out to a 12-2 lead thanks to five quick points from Golden and never looked back with their aggressiveness.
Golden closed the first half scoring nine consecutive points behind three 3-pointers from nearly the same spot on the court to make it 43-28 with 2:36 to play until the break.
Golden had 19 points in first half on 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
"I thought Golden was great early and that really gave them confidence," UNC Greensboro head coach Mike Dement said. "They got going and got a lot of confidence."
The second half was simply a continuation of the Golden show.
He dished an assist to Maymon early, then followed with a steal that resulted in him going to the free throw line to get Tennessee going.
After UNC Greensboro cut the margin to 15 points with 16:55 to play, Golden converted a three-point play to sway the momentum back toward the Vols. Skylar McBee followed with a 3, and Golden added one of his own to make it 66-42 with 15:02 remaining as the Vols cruised to the victory.
"We're just trying to show them that we worked hard in the offseason and we're trying to represent Tennessee in the right way," Golden said. "We've progressed since the preseason. There are not as many jitters and guys are more aggressive, and that's a good thing for us."
Tennessee is back in action Wednesday when it hosts Louisiana-Monroe for a 7 p.m. ET tip-off at Thompson-Boling Area.
