Strange: You had to be here to enjoy war

You had to be here, like Pat Summitt perched behind the Tennessee bench, to comprehend the absolute intensity that threatened to blow a hole in the O'Connell Center roof.

You had to be here, like Bruce Pearl's parents, to be assaulted by the wall of sound coming from 12,322 foghorns.

You had to be here, like 91-year-old John Bradshaw', watching his grandson Dane, to understand the height and length and athleticism and determination of the Florida Gators.

Which is all to say, you had to be here to fully appreciate the enormity of what Tennessee did Wednesday night.

With a 76-72 victory over the Gators, the Vols clinched at least a share of SEC East Championship and locked up a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

If they've ever won a championship in a tougher environment, I'd like to see it.

"We were coming in here for a dogfight and that's what it was,'' said Vols senior C.J. Watson.

No, it was more than a dogfight. Georgia was a dogfight. This was a war.

"I'm numb,'' said UT coach Bruce Pearl. "Numb and soaking wet.''

Pearl had sweated through his suit in the first half. By the time the score got to 72-72 inside the final minute, he looked as if he had already been tossed in the shower.

But his brain was in better shape than his suit.

Following a Tennessee turnover, Florida called time out with 18 seconds to play to set up a last shot, a shot to keep the SEC East race going down to the final day of the regular season.

"At that moment,'' Pearl said later, "I didn't want Florida to have the last possession. I wanted to try to make a play.''

Pearl aligned the Vols in a set called "55 side" and put Major Wingate in to pressure the Gators' Corey Brewer, who would throw the ball inbounds from the sideline in front of the scorer's table.

"All the credit goes to coach,'' said Dane Bradshaw. "We weren't sitting there saying we've got to get a stop. We were saying we've got to get a steal on the inbounds.''

Pearl the prophet.

Here's a game that's been fought tooth and nail, no quarter given, for 39 minutes and 42 seconds and it's a stalemate.

And then it's decided by what Florida coach Billy Donovan described as "kind of a fluke play.''

Wingate deflected Brewer's inbounds pass, intended for Al Horford.

"Coach is always telling me my on-the-ball performance on the out-of-bounds has got to pick up,'' said Wingate. "I think I did enough for the whole year with that.''

Bradshaw and Watson went for the ball, along with Florida's Horford and Taurean Green.

"It (the inbounds pass) kind of looked like a (wounded) duck when it bounced,'' said Bradshaw. "I'm not going to beat C.J. in a race too many times, but this time I did.''

All of a sudden Bradshaw popped free with the basketball and nobody between him and the basket.

Just like when he popped free in Knoxville on Jan. 21 with the score tied and made a layup to beat the Gators in the final seconds.

This time Bradshaw made a spin move into the clear and laid his shot over the rim and Tennessee led 74-72.

And then, having gotten their steal, the Vols got their stop. Chris Lofton tacked on free throws and Tennessee was a champion.

"I'm so happy for Tennessee I can't tell you,'' said Pearl.

"It's a tough place to be a student-athlete if you're not winning. Our kids will be able to hold their heads up pretty good.''

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.