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ATLANTA — Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl said he knew the Vols would find a way to win.
The rest of the people in the Georgia Dome and the fans watching on television were in suspense until the final horn sounded on UT’s 89-87 victory over lowly South Carolina on Friday afternoon.
The No. 4 Vols (29-3) advanced in the SEC tournament for the first time in three years and will play at 1 o’clock today (TV: WVLT) against Arkansas (21-10), an 81-75 winner over Vanderbilt.
UT defeated the Razorbacks 93-71 on Feb. 13 in Knoxville, but Pearl expects a different Arkansas team.
“It’s obviously a better team that looks like they are really sharing the ball,’’ Pearl said. “They are going to their strengths, they have identified their roles and utilizing their depth really well.
“They are getting better point guard play; Gary Ervin is really the captain of that ship.’’
To earn the right to play the Razorbacks, UT had to find its way out of troubled waters against the fired-up Gamecocks (14-18).
South Carolina said and played like it was motivated by its embarrassing losses to the Vols (80-56, 89-56) this season.
UT said and played like it was determined to make history, and as Pearl said, found a way to win.
So when Chris Lofton needed a screen to get open on an inbounds play with UT down 87-86 with 16.7 seconds left, Wayne Chism found a way to set what South Carolina coach Dave Odom called a “roadblock’’ pick.
When Lofton needed the winning shot to fall, after going 1-for-9 beyond the 3-point line, he swished it with 11.4 seconds to play — later explaining that, “as a shooter, you always expect to make the next one.’’
Finally, when South Carolina inbounded the ball with 1.1 seconds left, The Vols’ defense rose to the challenge and prevented a final shot.
“This is the season we’ve had,’’ Pearl said. “I sleep at night knowing we’re going to find a way.’’
The Gamecocks’ way was through the hands of guards Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick, who in addition to limiting their team’s turnover tally to eight, scored 26 and 24 points, respectively.
“We were unable to guard their guards off the bounce,’’ Pearl said. “Downey is terrific. Our guys shake their heads … he’s the best point guard in the league.
“In any given game, he can put that game together.’’
The Vols were fortunate that Chism put together one of the best games of his career.
Early on, Chism was the only consistent scoring threat, as he poured in 15 of his career-high 23 points in the first half, helping UT to a 41-40 halftime lead.
Lofton hit a 3-pointer to open the second half, but South Carolina battled back and took its first lead of the game, 51-50, on a pair of Downey free throws with 14:45 left.
At the 10:28 mark, with the Vols clinging to a 63-62 lead, Tyler Smith finally awakened, scoring his first basket of the game with an inside move.
It was a preview of things to come. Tyler Smith scored 11 in a row for UT from the 5:58 mark until 38.7 seconds remained on the clock, when his basket gave the Vols an 86-85 lead.
Dominique Archie, Tyler Smith’s nemesis throughout the game, answered with a basket inside to put South Carolina up 87-86 with 21 seconds remaining.
The Vols brought the ball up the court and called time out with 16.7 seconds left to set up Lofton’s shot.
“Chris was going to get the ball,’’ Pearl said. “JaJuan was the first option, he was probably pretty open, (but) Chris was going to get that touch.’’
That was fine with JaJuan Smith, who, despite scoring 19 points, was comfortable seeing the ball go to No. 5.
“When he gets that look in his eye, like he did when coach drew that play up, we know to get him the ball,’’ JaJuan Smith said. “We wouldn’t be sitting here smiling if it wasn’t for him making big shots time after time.’’
Pearl, however, looked deeper when breaking down the victory.
“Brian Williams’ play was terrific,’’ he said, referring to the freshman center’s 4-of-4 shooting, nine points and three rebounds in 13 minutes of play. “What a lift he gave us with rebounding and scoring around the basket.
“And Josh Tabb — three assists, no turnovers and he played great defense,’’ Pearl said. “Fans are going to remember Chris’ shot, or Tyler scoring 11 in a row, and don’t forget about Wayne in the first half … It’s just been that kind of year.’’
Rocky Top League opening night
Old school: Archived photos of UT…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 182
furman72#215697 writes:
Whew!
kesterja#235578 writes:
Wow...statistically not Lofton's best game, but he sure came through in the clutch!
juicetke#226846 writes:
Thank God for Lofton! I still can't believe he shot that shot. It really shouldn't even surprise me by now though.
C123456 writes:
I'll take an ugly win over a loss any day.
10eceeVol4ever writes:
This team makes you crazy!!! Had a feeling that it would be much closer than last Sunday but not this close. These guy's simply find ways to win in any situation. On to the Semi's!!!!!!
Go Vols!!!!!!!!!
King53 writes:
BOTTOM!!!!!!!!
tigervol9802 writes:
Wise man once said -
"When you have not made semifinals since 1991, a win is a win is a win."
He also said -
"God bless #5!"
houvol#438636 writes:
Hopefully this will be the only first round scare they have this year. Overconfidence is a killer in everything. Let's hope they settle down and play Tennessee Basketball.
dgriesbeck#208910 writes:
Now we've reversed the snake bite and broken the Dome curse. Loosen up and win two more!!!
Lofton achieved immortality today!!!
GO VOLS!
10eceeVol4ever writes:
I'm sorry Ashley officiating wasn't all that bad. Tennessee had some dumb fouls, especially Jordan and the JaJuan shove that got a technical. Persoanlly thought that he deserved what he got.
pupvol writes:
what in the world gets into jajuans head sometimes. don"t like that kind of play.
TommyJack writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
10eceeVol4ever writes:
JaJuan is such a great player, he needs to play much smarter, without all of the flash. No behind the back passes.
GoVol writes:
TN almost made history. Glad Tyler Smith finally turned it on in the 2nd half and glad to see Chism with a great game. All-in-all they looked very sloppy, but really glad they won. I'll Lofton in the cluth over anyone, everytime!!!!
10eceeVol4ever writes:
TommyJack this time we simply had to overcome ourselves.
cphil writes:
Hmmmm... 25 team fouls called on UT vs. 16 on USC. They attempted 30 free throws to our 16.
Looked like this crew was schooled by Teddy Valentine.
Great game Vols. Way to hang in there given the "adversity".
Wooly writes:
Who do the Vols get tomorrow, Van/Ark winner? What time is the game and is it on TV?
GoVol writes:
sorry, Clutch, not cluth.
10eceeVol4ever writes:
Winner of Vandy and Arkansas at 1PM
wjackson#226202 writes:
There were a few dumb calls. But The refs were calling Tennesee for anything. Like close to the end, that guy was all over tyler smith and they didn't call anything but as soon as South Carolina got the ball they called Jordan Howe for hitting the guys jersey. That was some pathetic officiating in the second half. Also. I had never seen SC play before. Is there any coach that crys to the ref every single play like Odem. I thought that was crazy!!
10eceeVol4ever writes:
Same Vol channel, Same Vol time
IR4UT2 writes:
Ugly win indeed. Just glad SC couldn't hit free throws! Hope it was a wake up! GO VOLS!!!
pdhuff#552644 writes:
C'mon Arkansas, drop the Dores.
What a game.
Congrats BP & co.
Dang!
trl_x writes:
I'll take it. Survive and advance. Beating a team 3 times in a row isn't easy.
I think the Vols will play much better tomorrow...especially if it's Vandy.
auttat writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
wjackson#226202 writes:
I think the refs should have frisked Lofton before that last play. I guess they didn't see him carrying that DAGGER!! LOL
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
We simply pushed the ball too much. USC wasn't wearing down, and we were turning it over. We actually made a lot of good offensive plays, once we got set.
I'll say this: USC did get tired, as their FT shooting and defense let up. The oddest game, Wayne played super, Tyler was kind of...iffy, and Chris and Jajuan made more errors than they've made all year.
I agrre, too, that Josh deserves time over Howell right now. I hate to say that, but Josh really made a huge difference.
juicetke#226846 writes:
A wise man once said..."MONEY!"
TommyJack writes:
wjackson 3:36, Yes there is. His name is Bruce Pearl. But he is still da man!
QCVol writes:
Just heard on the radio that he thought dude was the "foam" around the "goal post" and was just "diverting" his momentum back in the other direction...now that, is a hellava explaination! I believe that dude did a little bit of an acting job becuase it didn't look like much of a shove to me...
mtnvol writes:
TJ, LMAO!
wjackson#226202 writes:
I live in Maryland. So I had to watch PPV. The funniest part of the whole game. Which I'm not sure you were able to see on regular tv was they showed about a 15 to 20 second shot of the SC cheerleaders jumping up and down with a sign that just said C0CKS. I couldn't stop laughing and the two guys calling the game just stopped talking. What a riot.
drum56 writes:
MONEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
invisiblekid writes:
TommyJack, how in the world can you forget John Adams in your list?
wjackson#226202 writes:
Sorry TommyJack. I watched the game. Bruce was no where near as animated as Odem. Oh well. Won't have to watch him again anyway! And the PPV game callers were big time SC fans.
KnoxVol_in_TX writes:
I'm at work and was listening to WLAC online. I could see the officiating though, as soon as the announcers talked about T.Smith getting clobbered, and then J.Howell getting called for the "phantom" foul on the other end.
Still, these things happen (too often), and you've got to play through them. JaJuan, give me a break man. You're a Sr. and a leader....act like it!!!
RemembertheAlamo writes:
How can we blow a team out of the gym on Sunday, and less than a week later let them almost beat us.......unbelievable!
TommyJack writes:
Kid: Wow. You're right. Huge oversite.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
BTW, please do not blame the refs. We were fouling. A lot.
As for Jajuan, didn't it look like he had his arms crossed, and just pushed out of instinct as he came through??? I can't imagine he did that on purpose.
BluetickBlues writes:
I'll not hate to much on the refs they did what refs do, call fouls. We need to play some "D" with our feet instead of our hands slapping and hacking. I do take offense to that BS call on Chism, one of the biggest flops of the season. Good win but we are going home tommorow if we get that kind of effort again against the commodes/porkers.
Hats off to Wayne, Tyler(2nd half), and Lofton on the game winner.
Volchaz writes:
The refs called this game TIGHT, much like our most recent Vandy game. If they let us play, no one can stop us. If we do play Vandy, they are going to turn it into another FT contest. Crazy..
IBleedOrange444 writes:
JaJuan thought he was pushing off of the goal post b/c it was the same color as the Gamecocks uniforms. It was another great game for JaJuan. Lofton came through in the clutch once again! Wyane played his best game ever in a UT jersey! Great play from Brian Williams off the bench. Great play from JP once again. All in all, a great win against a team playing their best basketball all season. I hope Downey is a senior or is going on to the NBA after this year b/c that kid is a special player.
wjackson#226202 writes:
vols76 It's called gameplan. It's tough to beat a team 3 times in 1 season. SC did play some good ball. I can't take anything away from them. Now I hope UAB get's a third shot at Memphis and comes out on top. I think Bruce will have a serious talk with those boys when they get into the locker room. I am not sure if it was from the layoff or what but we looked rusty.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
I watched on Yahoo Broadcast, which uses raycomm. Espn360 had it, too, but for some reason espn360 is very prone to 'breaking' every 5 seconds, like the streaimg gets interrputed.
ANY WAY, you have to give full credit to Downey and Fredrick, those guys made a real game of it. Most of you know this, but BBall is a game where at times one guy can take over.
Some of you older fans may remember Danny Manning of Kansas...
thesavageorange writes:
TommyJack ,How can you forget CPF.Heard he was in the Atl area doing some recruiting work.
Was this game as hard to watch as it was to listen to?Phew ,that was rough.Gutsy call by BP.I could of swore they were going to Tyler inside.Good luck coach Odom.Class guy.
1974Vol writes:
Wow! Odom always seems to get them ready for a tournament. Remember they went to SECT finals year before last & then won the NIT. Yeah, this wasn't a thing of beauty for Vols, but give USC some credit - they played a great game. Now its time to BEAT VANDY! or BEAT THE RAZORBACKS
1974Vol writes:
Wow! Odom always seems to get them ready for a tournament. Remember they went to SECT finals year before last & then won the NIT. Yeah, this wasn't a thing of beauty for Vols, but give USC some credit - they played a great game. Now its time to BEAT VANDY! or BEAT THE RAZORBACKS
wjackson#226202 writes:
Agreed. An ugly win is a win. And we hadn't had a quaterfinal one since 1991. So I don't care if we hacky sacked the ball in on the last play. WEEEEEEEE WON!!!! Now my blood pressure can go back to normal. Peace everyone. I'm out.
1974Vol writes:
Wow! Odom always seems to get them ready for a tournament. Remember they went to SECT finals year before last & then won the NIT. Yeah, this wasn't a thing of beauty for Vols, but give USC some credit - they played a great game. Now its time to BEAT VANDY! or BEAT THE RAZORBACKS
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
wjackson:
hey, I didn't think we looked rusty at all. USC played us tough and hung in there. I thought we felt we could tire them out, which we did in a way, but it never stopped Downey. The turnovers we had were bad...
You know, we didn't fold our tent and go hoem, and we coulc've.
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