Scotty Hopson made his only basket with 9:26 remaining and finished 1 of 7 from the field en route to a season-low 7 points Tuesday night vs. Oakland. Tennessee lost 89-82.
Hopson missed his first eight shots and finished 6 of 19 from the field (1 of 6 from 3) Friday night at Charlotte. Tennessee lost 49-48.
Making those numbers especially noteworthy is the fact they immediately followed his best game as a Vol. Hopson nailed 10 of 13 shots (3 of 3 from 3) and scored a career-best 27 points eight days ago as the Big Orange shocked third-ranked Pitt 83-76 in Pittsburgh.
Three games hardly qualify as conclusive evidence, although the past three outings dramatically illustrate the correlation between Hopson's output and Tennessee's outcome.
That said, here's a look at every game the 2010 Vols have played thus far and the contribution made by their 6-7 junior guard:
- Hopson hits 6 of 9 shots (3 of 4 from 3) en route to 17 points in 21 minutes as Tennessee hammers Brevard 91-42 in the exhibition opener.
- Hopson plays just nine foul-plagued minutes in the exhibition finale vs. Div. II Indianapolis, goes 0 of 1 from the field, finishing with 3 points and 3 turnovers as the Vols suffer a stunning 79-64 loss.
- Hopson goes 5 of 14 from the field (1 of 6 from 3) but it doesn't matter as the Vols trounce Chattanooga 82-62 in the regular-season opener.
- Hopson hits 6 of 11 from the field (1 of 4 from 3) as the Vols struggle to subdue Belmont 85-76.
- Hopson goes 5 of 14 from the field (0 of 3 from 3) as the Vols hold on to nip Missouri State 60-56.
- Hopson hits 6 of 15 from the field (1 of 2 from 3) as the Vols beat Virginia Commonwealth 77-72 in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals.
- Hopson goes 6 of 11 from the field (1 of 3 from 3) as the Vols upset No. 7 Villanova 78-68 in the NIT championship game.
- Hopson hits 5 of 9 from the field (4 of 6 from 3) as the Vols annihilate Middle Tennessee 86-56.
- Hopson goes 10 of 13 from the field (3 of 3 from 3) as the Vols upend No. 3 Pitt 83-76.
- Hopson hits 1 of 7 from the field (0 of 3 from 3) as the Vols fell to a 5-5 Oakland team 89-82.
- Hopson goes 6 of 19 from the field (1 of 6 from 3) as the Vols lose to a 4-6 Charlotte squad 49-48.
For those keeping score at home, here are some totals worth noting:
Hopson averaged 22.5 points per game - shooting 66.7 percent from the field (16 of 24) and 66.7 percent from beyond the arc (4 of 6) - in Tennessee's signature wins vs. Villanova and Pitt.
He averaged 7.7 points per game - shooting 25.9 percent from the field (7 of 27) and 10 percent from beyond the arc (1 of 10) - in the losses to Indianapolis, Oakland and Charlotte.
Bottom line: Tennessee needs to find Hopson some scoring help.