Yemi Makanjuola discusses the Vols win over The Citadel
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Yemi Makanjuola’s nickname is “Yay,’’ and that was the reaction from teammates and fans during his startling performance Thursday night.
Makanjuola recorded his first career double-double in Tennessee’s 86-55 men’s basketball victory over The Citadel before an announced crowd of 16,245 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Vols’ first three-game winning streak of the season was accentuated by the roll Makanjuola got on in the second half, when he scored his career-high 18 points in succession.
“I didn’t even know what I was scoring,’’ said Makanjuola, UT’s 6-foot-9, 244-pound native of Nigeria. “My teammates just kept telling me ‘keep going, Yemi, keep going.’ Kenny (Hall) was telling me to get 10 rebounds.
“When I got the rebounds close to the basket, I figured I might as well shoot.’’
Makanjuola, who averaged only 9.7 minutes in the nine games he played prior to Thursday’s contest against the Bulldogs (2-10), pulled down 10 of his 11 rebounds in the second half. He played only 13 minutes, scoring his first points at the 10:49 mark when he put back a missed free throw.
Makanjuola’s rebounds, dunks, baskets and free throws continued to come, capped by his tip-in with 2:26 left, as he easily eclipsed his previous career-highs of six points and seven rebounds against Division II Chaminade on Nov. 23.
“I think the fans cheer because my name is funny, not because I’m good,’’ Makanjuola joked. “I just wanted to keep playing, because I did not want to come out, so I was trying to do everything I could to stay out there.’’
Makanjuola’s performance sent UT statisticians scrambling to find out when, if ever, a Vols basketball player had scored 18 points in succession.
UT coach Cuonzo Martin, whose team improved to 6-6, didn’t seem as interested in that trivia as he was in the development of Makanjuola, whom most considered a project when UT signed him out of the Word of God Academy in Raleigh, N.C.
“Yemi had a great game; outside of the points, he did a good job rebounding the basketball, really focusing on rebounding it with two hands and being aggressive,’’ Martin said. “He’s really improved his body balance and has spent a lot of time with the strength coach.’’
Citadel coach Chuck Driesell, whose team has dropped eight straight, said Makanjuola was a headache for whom the Bullldogs weren’t prepared.
“The guy coming off the bench killed us; we did not expect that,’’ said Driesell, son of Maryland coaching legend Charles “Lefty” Driesell. “We knew he was strong and big and could score around the rim, but we were hoping to keep him out of the paint.’’
UT guard Skylar McBee, who scored all 12 of his points in the first half by breaking up The Citadel’s zone with 4-of-5 shooting beyond the 3-point arc, said Makanjuola’s performance made everyone on the team happy.
“If you watched the bench tonight when he was doing all this, everybody was jumping up and excited for him,’’ McBee said. “It’s a big confidence booster for him, being a freshman coming in, I don’t think he was really sure that he knew what his role was, so seeing him have a game like this was very exciting.’’
The Vols took most of the drama out of the game by halftime, cruising to a 40-25 lead through the first 20 minutes.
Renaldo Woolridge and Trae Golden each scored 10 points, with Golden adding five rebounds and five assists to his stat line.
“The key for us was Trae getting off to a good start,’’ Martin said. “When Trae’s aggressive and assertive and taking the ball off the bounce, I think we’re a good team. He makes us go in that sense.
“I thought the guys did a good job, probably the best game I’ve seen our guys play all season on both ends of the floor for two halves.’’
Tennessee returns to action at 7 p.m. Monday at Thompson-Boling Arena against Chattanooga (5-8).
The Mocs will be the fourth and final Southern Conference team the Vols play in the regular season.
Mike Griffith covers Tennessee men’s basketball. Follow him at http://twitter.com/MikeGriffith32
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Comments » 60
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
Excellent game in all facets. Good to see Yemi improve so much, hope he continues. Got to reduce the rotation - don't know who will be odd man out, even swiper boy played well for the most part.
voloffaith writes:
Gimme Yemi was the chant.......nice game for the fans and bench ,but it was the Citadel in the midst of major losing/loosing streak.....
VOLunTEAR writes:
What! UT has a MEN'S basketball team?!?!?
lomas98 writes:
I wonder what the NCAA record is for most consecutive points scored by one player. 18 in a row is pretty impressive no matter who the opponent is.
wigmeister writes:
Not pretty, but they had some very good performances from people off the bench. Good win. We needed that. Schedule will only continue to get tougher. Hope we can keep it going!
BolivrBob writes:
Hope Yemi's "coming out" is the beginning of something good.We were favored by 20 and won by 31. A win is a win' Played well but still not blocking out for position for rebounds on defense. They had 12 offensive rebounds, and those guys were little bitty, We had 13. Gimmee Yemi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VolinCalif writes:
I gotta agree with you Huck. I liked the improved play but CIT is a 2-10 team and we did start a little slow.Still think we need to improve for the open with Fl. But we should be a good team by the middle of this season.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Good game. Next Up U T C!!!!!! Go Mocs. Look out Golden they have a real point guard. Unfortunately he only has one maybe 2 players to go to. The Mocs also are not very good on D. I think UT wins this one going away. Mocs just haven't shown up in most of their games. I have to pull for them a little. But honestly a loss for the Mocs won't hurt them as much as a loss for the Vols. UT 76 MOCS 65. It could get ugly for the Mocs unless they play good D. They have given some good teams a run or two though. Honestly this was suppose to be a good year for the Mocs. Maybe they can start with UT.lol
GerryOP writes:
Good job basketVols. You did what you were supposed to do. Now on to the rest of the season.
All Vol ... All day ... Every day!
carbonzip writes:
Good play by Golden and McBee
FanNotSheep writes:
A win is a win, but don't get all hyperventilated. I remember when teams like this one, as well as Austin Peay and ETSU, played against UT's freshman team instead of the varsity. Now ETSU has obviously come a long way since then, but I don't think we need to storm the court or anything. Hopefully we can improve enough to not finish 11th in the SEC –– as the media predicted.
Stepchild_nFL writes:
Its going to be fun watching some of our guys come out this year. Sure it was a feel good game, and we may not win a lot of games this year but I'm going to enjoy my Vols. Can't wait for the Gators. We'll give em a good fight, for a half and then we'll probably do a Dooley. It will still be fun.
Aussievol writes:
Great Job Big Mak!!! Hope it continues in 2012.
ULTIMATEVOLUNTEER writes:
Not sure but Reggie Johnson scored the first 18 or 19 for Tennessee in a game.
Razor784 writes:
How in the world is this guy not playing more??? He did this against their first string for the most part. Yeah it was only Citadel, but neither Maymon nor Hall did anything close to that while they were in.
rockypop writes:
I watched the game, and the Citadel was arguably the worst basketball team I've ever seen in the modern era. How could this victory even be considered worth counting?
allvol32 writes:
How does it feel to be a dingleberry/hemmerhoid? Never mind we really don't want to know...please go find another team to not root for.
Nunshalpass writes:
the same way all our SEC bretheren are counting all their wins against patsies. A win is a win.
givehim6 writes:
Good 3 game win streak, looks better then the looseing streak. Win as many no-conf games we can get, stay strong when we get to the SEC stretch guys.
MothershipChip writes:
I had a BLAST at the game tonight!!! First game I have had the opportunity to see at TBA since the Buzz era and it was a totally different atmosphere. Hopefully I can swing the Chattanooga game Monday, because it was an awesome time.
Trae looked great driving the ball into the lane I hope he continues to play that way all season. Some of those lay ups were silky smooth.
Yemi was great and you could see the players loving the fact he was playing so well.
Plus we had the added bonus of two bench warmers in Rob Murphy and Ryan Kilmartin getting in the game for some late offense.
Great game and a great time all around!
Go Big Orange!!!
Snapshot writes:
Excellent response! I'm sure it was over his head though.
decades_vol writes:
Sorry for your dilemma, mocs and vols. I had the same problem with the UT-ETSU game. The Bucs are my alma mater, and they played well like I hoped.
But UT needed the win more. The same I think goes for the UTC-UT game. The Big Orange need some kind of momentum going into the Memphis game. Even though I think Tenn. will win, I don't think they will pound them like they did The Citadel. What I would really like to see is a win somehow at the Fed-Ex over the Tigers. Who knows? Stranger things have happened. All of this would be gravy for Coach Martin. One can only hope.
decades_vol writes:
Just stop posting and start traveling away from here, tin-man. I promise you, you will not be missed. As for your criticism of this team, they performed exceptionally well, though obviously against a sub-par team. They played good help defense, making proper switches, unlike some previous games. They took good shots from both outside and inside. They ran their sets and took advantage of transition opportunities. And no, I'm not into the kool aid. The upcoming schedule is a beast, and no Volunteer fan can expect great success here. But I'll watch them, nevertheless.
MothershipChip writes:
Forgot to mention Galen Campbell as another bench guy getting on the stat sheet. Great game all around by the vols!
Go Big Orange!!!
Madkels writes:
Well the UF trolls are quite now aren't they?
Madkels writes:
Not to mention, so are the kitty cat trolls as well.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Lopez , Summitt, AND they ALL Scored I think. At least 3 of them did.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Golly! UTC was sooooo long ago and all my friends there aren't really that close any more so I can easily pull for UT. UTC and ETSU had some epic battles though. Even in football. I don't understand your quitting football. Ya'll need to get it back and be a real contender with the likes of UTC and the other mids.
Back to bball. I think Shulman is desparate and needs a win over UT really bad. Martin doesn't need to lose to another mid major. It's not likely either coach will lose their job this year but Shulman's probably losing some fans. He's had some excellent talent that he can't seem to get to play well as a team. Sound familiar? lol
Bubba_Knows writes:
Amazing how playing a 2-10 team makes fans think we are much improved. Folks, I was good enough out of HS to play for the Citadel. Don't read too much into this game. They start beating SEC teams and you can claim this.
Bubba_Knows writes:
When I first read your comments I laughed out loud. I thought you were talking about Glenn Campbell.
voloffaith writes:
C'mon ease up a he ran out of coal so the Vols didn't get anything.......This is his usual 'sky is falling' material about the Vols....any Vols.....
On topic,nice to see bench get extensive minutes in real game vs practice......I mean we're talking practice man.....Florida took one on the chin at Rutgers last night....They had a player who transferred from Scarlet Knights that fans continually booed so they probably felt victory was justification....
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
Citadel were bad but not totally without defense..Can't remember a UT player having a double-double in only 13 minutes..Outside of McRae (who at this point should be a double figure scorer) the whole team played well..Shooting 56% will win games against most anybody..Martin got another chance to experiment with the rotation;which is why we play this mid major string prior to SEC play..
hcjournals#206623 writes:
We're going to get better and better. Fighting to stay on the court is the kind of desire that will pay off. And when Jarnell joins the team that kind of attitude will come on handy. Go Vols....
underthehill writes:
Attendance indicates they do.
underthehill writes:
I watch a lot of SEC basketball..SEC wins will be tough to get this year but I like Martin thus far and believe he will have a competitive team within a reasonable time..Seeing LSU has been my biggest surprise of the year..they have a talented freshman point guard leading them..
Ironcity writes:
Nice win last night. I look at UT's bigs and they are all about even in talent and ability. I like Woolridge more then Hall. He brings a little more versatility on offense and energy on defense. still not good defensive team and that won't change this year.
shoalcreekvol writes:
I was going to contradict your conclusion, but you did watch a WHOLE minute and half so you obviously know what you're talking about....
shoalcreekvol writes:
Like a Rhinestone Cowboy.
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
I agree; it seems Woolridge is finally finding his niche..Playing good inside and outside;also rebounding well and less turnovers
tennrich1 writes:
Yeah I usually dont get in that elementary school mentality...(sorry..had JW's knocking at the door...discussed theology for a minute but I'm back...man are they off base....)but if I were as loaded as say Kentucky, Florida, Memphis and throw Vandy in there I would keep my mouth shut for at least a while...Hopefully our talent level can get back were we need it to be...
hikerdude writes:
Yemi's double-double against the Citadel means only that he can get 10 points if he is unguarded and 10 rebounds if he is not boxed out.
voloffaith writes:
Very thoughtful of you to speak(type) encouraging words. Momma said if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all. Based on momma's saying your favorite song should be,"silence is golden....".
On topic,happy for him to get some good playing time as he is a project,but I think alot of upside inside that frame.
usnavyvolfan__times_free_press_can_shove_it writes:
HA! ...with a DUI!
usnavyvolfan__times_free_press_can_shove_it writes:
It truly amazes me that even with a 30-point win, some people are still not happy. I suppose it's a tragedy that the Citadel scored at all. I mean, we didn't shut them out? Ridiculous!
Hopefully the streak will continue against the Mocs. GBO! VFL!
davidray31#232814 writes:
The statement he made " I think the fans are cheering because my name sounds funny, not because I am good" shows he has a good personality and character. Way to go Yemi!
D60 writes:
16,000 hard to believe.........to watch this joke of a coach
Fall_Creek_Vols writes:
Time's coming. Look closely at those words. Time's coming you're gonna get the chance to eat them. The horse is dead D60...time to get off.
I said in the beginning and I say again: Coach Martin is absolutely the right man for this job. In time, this program will be turned around. Some of that turnaround is underway now. Jarnell Stokes didn't come to Knoxville without Coach Martin and the staff getting that part of the job done.
I submit that Yemi's night is the result of proper effort with proper direction, regardless of opponent. There will be others because Coach Zo builds men who want to play for him. When that happens, it can be magical.
It's going to be a great ride. I - for one - will enjoy it. Sorry you're apparently gonna miss it, D60.
FanNotSheep writes:
Much remains to be seen about the ability of Martin to recruit and coach the team. Don't see any need to call him or Dooley names and wish others would stop. The line of guys willing to take the reins of the football and basketball programs was not long after school administrators made a total botch of things.
I see no reason to hate on either coach for not being upper echelon candidates. The administration's recent handling of the athletic department has rendered it unthinkable for a top coach to seriously consider either job.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
10 points?? You should have watched the whole game. It was 18 points. He had 11 rebounds. He only played 13 minutes total. Most his scoring and rebounds were in the second half.
Maybe you should read the article. He was far better than the Citadel bigs last night one of whom was considered a very good player.
You're cute little bash was not only undeserved by Makanjuola but was just a little bit ignorant of what actually happened. I'm NOT calling you an ignorant person. Your post here was though.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Well I CAN think of about 2 million reasons a lot of really good and potentially great coaches would and do want to coach here. That is if money has anything to do with their goals... maybe not?. by top coach I assume you mean one that is already making a pretty good sum. In that case coming here would be amazing. However as of now we don't need any new coaches. imho
As for school administrators??? It must be Pearl's handling that you refer to. I don't know what they could do with all the uproar in the media. The media went absolutely bonkers. again imho they still are if any negativity comes on the scene. That said I do believe in the free press. Not slander, but freedom to express.
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