How Amari Evans can impact winning for Tennessee without shooting
· Yahoo Sports
Amari Evans has had several unusual stat lines in his debut season for Tennessee basketball.
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The freshman guard helped take down Louisville on Dec. 16 with seven points but also fouled out in seven minutes.
In the Vols' 89-66 win over Oklahoma on Feb. 18, Evans didn't attempt a shot. He finished with three rebounds and a steal in 16 minutes, yet he netted out as a plus-20.
"Just that he played the role and the fact that he impacted winning," coach Rick Barnes said about Evans on Feb. 20. "He did it in a way that we needed him to, whether its defense and really trying to lock in defensively. Whether it's getting to the glass, just doing his job. That's what it got down to, just doing his job."
Evans finished the game for the Vols after Bishop Boswell picked up his fourth foul with 7:52 remaining. Boswell has had four fouls in his last four games, forcing Tennessee to turn to its guard depth.
Although Barnes was pleased with Evans, he needed Boswell to stay grounded. The freshman may be called upon again as Tennessee(19-7, 9-4 SEC) heads to Memorial Gymnasium to play No. 18 Vanderbilt (21-5, 8-5) in Nashville on Feb. 21 (2 p.m. ET, ESPN).
"Bishop left his feet," Barnes said. "We need Bishop to play aggressively, but without fouling. We need that as much as possible. But when you play as hard as he does and guarding oftentimes the other team's best player, they're trying to screen him. He's going to fight to get through it. He's going to try to refuse to get screened. The ones that he's got to eliminate are the ones where he leaves his feet. Those type things like that are the ones that he's got to stay disciplined."
In the Vols' previous game against LSU, Barnes selected Ethan Burg as Boswell's temporary replacement. Burg got early minutes against Oklahoma, but Evans got his shot late. Tennessee only led by six points when Boswell sat.
Nearly eight minutes later, the Vols won by 23 points.
"I thought one of the most impressive things on the state sheet was that Amari Evans didn't score a point, but he was in the game," Barnes said immediately after the win. "I thought he did a lot of good things for a freshman. You watch him continuing to come into his own. He went through a period where he was playing well, and he got away from his role. Just really worked hard back in practice to earn his way back in there, and he made the most of it tonight."
Wynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. Email: [email protected]
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Amari Evans can impact winning for Tennessee basketball without shooting