ON MY MONDAY MIND:

DOUBLE-TROUBLE SOLVING: Leading into Saturday's basketball game at The Hump between Tennessee and Mississippi State the Vols had two major recurring issues; not executing down the stretch in close games and not winning on the road. Looks like the Vols killed two Dogs with one stone. Tennessee once again lost most of a double-digit lead but this time not all of it. They overcame an injury to a key player, made clutch buckets and free throws and got just enough stops and rebounds to break the close/road game blues. Detrick Mostella's career high 24 points -combined with Kevin Punter's run-of-the-mill 23- the Vols 15 point advantage from beyond the arc (Tenn 10-23; Miss St 5-19) and 4 point advantage at the FT line barely overcame the Bulldogs 16 point advantage in the paint. Robert Hubbs and Devon Baulkman deserve best supporting teammate recognition combining for 28 points on 10 for 14 shooting and 9 rebounds. With Armani Moore remaining on the bench with an ankle injury and Admiral Schofield and Shembari Phillips reminding us once again that Freshman will be Freshman their contributions were immeasurable. The Vols now return to TBA with two tough -yet winnable- contests versus Vandy and South Carolina looming with a heartbeat that might have flat-lined with yet another heartbreaking loss.

MID-TERM MUSINGS: With the Basket Vols season just beyond the midpoint it's as good a time as any to look at what's gone right AND wrong to date:

EXPECTED MORE:

LATE GAME EXECUTION: Until Saturday the Vols had failed to make the necessary plays down the stretch to beat anyone except ETSU and Tennessee State. Even though a couple are still relative SEC newcomers I expected more mental toughness from a team that has five upperclassmen playing major minutes.

TRANSITION DEFENSE: The Vols simply don't get back as a unit the way they should. As an example though the win in Starkville was satisfying this phase of play was not. On three occasions Tennessee had one guy hustle back to force a miss only to have two followed up for baskets and another State player sent to the free throw stripe after being fouled from behind on a tip attempt. All caused by four Vols trailing behind the pack. Thank heavens turnovers leading to opponent run outs are not a common occurrence.

ROAD RECORD: Up until a couple of days ago the Vols next road win would be their first. Once again you would expect upperclassmen to fair better away from home.

BETTER THAN I EXPECTED

BALL SECURITY: Tennessee trails only Florida (10.8) and Arkansas (11.4) in turnovers/game giving up the ball only 11.6/game. I guess this should be somewhat expected with at least four guards on the court at the same time for major minutes but playing at a frenetic offensive pace AND protecting the ball is impressive.

BIG BOY STATS: Though fielding what has to be the leagues shortest lineup the Vols rank 4th in the SEC in both Rebounding (39.3/game) and blocked shots (5.5/game). Amazingly the league leaders on rejections; Arkansas, Vandy and Georgia only block.1 more shot per game than the height-challenged Vols.

NFL PLAYOFF PIECES:

KANSAS CITY @ NEW ENGLAND: Coming down the stretch of the regular season the Pats looked as vulnerable as we've seen them since Tom Brady's season-ending injury in 2008. As long as he's on the field and Bill Belichick is on the sideline however they are a Super Bowl contender regardless of the supporting cast or lack thereof.

GREEN BAY @ ARIZONA: This is why we just can't take our eyes off of the NFL. The Packers spent the last 6 weeks of the regular season sputtering on the offensive end yet found it when it truly mattered in the postseason. Yet another miraculous Hail Mary, answered prayer, ad-lib by Aaron Rodgers forced the game to OT. All that did however was give ageless-wonder Larry Fitzgerald time to jump in the phone booth and don his playoff super-hero costume and lead the Cards to a one-and-done TD drive. His 2 catches for 80 yards and a score in the game-deciding drive denied the Pack an opportunity to possess the ball in the extra period and thus any more heroics by Rodgers

SEATTLE @ CAROLINA: The Panthers have looked like the best team in the NFL for the entire season and Sunday was no different...for a half. Carolina built an insurmountable 31 point lead in the first half then spent the last 30 minutes studying the game plan for next week's visit from the Arizona Cardinals. In the meantime the proud Seahawks were doing everything they could to keep that matchup from ever occurring. They were an onside kick recovery from possibly becoming the skunk at the NFC Championship party.

PITTSBURGH @ DENVER: Early on it looked as if the beat up Steelers offense would overcome all their injuries and that the Broncos defense was in full playoff mode -which for them ain't good. But Denver's D mostly bent without breaking and came up with a takeaway at the most opportune time. Peyton and the Bronco's offense was also clutch after three quarters of sputtering turning the Steeler turnover into a 70 yard game deciding TD drive

IN CLOSING: We better enjoy this while we can. It will be a long time before we again see two straight AFC matchups featuring three future Hall of Fame QBs

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