ATHENS, Ga. - His team had blown an 11-point first-half lead and looked horrible doing it. It gets worse.
His team, in fact, now trailed by 10 points. On the road. Conference opener. A two-game losing streak looked for all the world like it was 12 minutes or so from becoming a three-game losing streak.
At that point Saturday afternoon, trailing Georgia 54-44, Bruce Pearl would have given anything to look down his Tennessee bench at Stegeman Coliseum and find No. 5 sitting there, ready to report to the scorer's table.
"Number five texted me today, all the way from Turkey,'' Pearl said later.
That would be Chris Lofton, the stone-cold Georgia killer, the scourge of Stegeman.
Bottom line, No. 5 wasn't going to rescue the Vols this time.
However, No. 3 wasn't bad.
That Tennessee rallied for an 86-77 win was a team effort in the truest sense. There were many hands sharing the load.
But Bobby Maze was in the thick of it and that's extremely good news for Tennessee.
Good point-guard play elevates a team. Tennessee hadn't been getting much of it for a few games. Maze had been struggling, to put it mildly.
It's never a good sign when your point guard goes 36 minutes without an assist and shoots 1-of-9. That was Maze's forlorn box score against Gonzaga on Wednesday. Maybe one assist and UT wins in regulation rather than losing 89-79 in overtime.
So when Maze went a ho-hum 13 minutes in the first half Saturday without an assist, Steve Forbes had seen enough.
UT's once 11-point lead was down to 36-32 at the break. When the teams went back on the court to warm up, Forbes grabbed Maze by the jersey and pulled him over to the bench.
Forbes, in his third season as a UT assistant coach, was the point man in recruiting Maze from Hutchinson Community College last spring. He knew Maze well enough to get in his grill.
"I let him have it pretty good,'' Forbes said. "I can't repeat what I said.
"I was sick and tired of watching the way he played and I knew he was a better player than that.''
So if this rescued victory is a turning point in Tennessee's season, keep Forbes in mind for a pat on the back when it's all over. Buy him a beer.
Although it took him a few minutes to get warmed up in the second half, Maze looked like a different player down the stretch.
He scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half. He connected on a couple of drives and then nailed a big 3-pointer as the Vols chipped away at that 10-point Georgia lead.
He even got two assists and revved it up on defense. Georgia didn't score a field goal in the final eight minutes until it got a 3-pointer a couple of seconds to play.
"This is an important win for Tennessee,'' said Pearl, "because this was a big win for Bobby. He needed to play well.''
Said Maze, "I give a lot of credit to Coach Forbes. That meant a lot to me.
"It definitely pushed a lot of fire into me.''
In the big picture, it pushed disaster out of Tennessee's season.
You never want to put too much weight on one game, especially with 15 SEC regular-season games still to go.
But Saturday was a must-win scenario for Tennessee. No exaggeration.
Losses to Kansas and Gonzaga were a bad way to end the pre-conference segment of the season. Opening with a loss at Georgia would have been a dagger in the ribs for a team with SEC championship intentions.
Few things are more precious than an SEC road win. You've got to have them to win a title. You cannot blow an opportunity to get one against a weak opponent in a benign environment and that's what Saturday was.
Pearl didn't dodge the importance of the day's predicament:
"Not many times, on the road in the SEC this early, would I say you put yourself in a position where you say it's a must-win.
"But, yeah, down 10 in a game on the road you have to win.''
The Vols did have to win. And they won. Pearl had good news to text back to No. 5 in Turkey.
Forbes, meanwhile, felt gratified as he watched the second half unfold.
He knew his unprintable monologue had been received. He saw the point guard he recruited re-emerge.
"Hopefully, from here on out I won't have to do that,'' Forbes said. "But I will again if I have to.''
Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strangem@knoxnews.com.
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Comments » 18
volwalk writes:
Great second half Maze. Keep listening to coach Forbes.
volwalk writes:
We haven't had good point guard play since the middle of last season. Maze is a big key--if he stays healthy and continues to learn and listen to the coaching--this team will be AWESOME come March.
smokyredbone writes:
Man, by the time that one was over I was cramping!!!!!These kids are gonna give me a Heart-attack on their way to the final four!!! Pull em together CBP,GROW EM UP IN A HURRY!!!!! GO VOLS!!! HA HA VANDY GOT DOWNED!!! NICE SATURDAY!
DooleyNoted writes:
This team is young and still learning. Smith and Chism need to be the Forbes on the court. CBP will have them ready come March. Bring on UK. GO VOLS!
volwalk writes:
good point! Ramar played better his freshman year (NCAA Tournament) than anytime during his sophomore season. We could really be great, whenever Maze gets it and the wings use the dribble drive VS. spotting up for the 3s.
NorthwestVol writes:
Agent, you are pretty tough on a teen age kid. Guess you never made any mistakes. Myself, I made a few.
tennesseePhatz writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
johnlg00#206211 writes:
He had a low score on the ACT, then a higher one, then another low one after the second was flagged. That's hardly prima-facie evidence of a character flaw. A regular student wouldn't have drawn a second glance for improving on a second test and would never have had to take a third. Wonder how well you would do on the ACT these days.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Glad we got to see a bit of growth out of B.Maze today. Maybe he can be the player we all thought he could be from here on out. For sure, the PG hasn't been a positive strength for a Vol team since CJ Watson. Anybody know if he is still playing regularly for the Warriors?
Ironcity writes:
You my friend are an idiot!
leedsvol2007 writes:
Perhaps this was a Tee Martin moment for Bobby Maze.
In 1998 after the first half of the game against Georgia David Cutcliffe pulled Martin aside and basically told him to stop thinking and start playing. And also told him he had to step up.
It sounds like maybe Forbes did the same thing to Maze. The kid has obvious talents and hopefully the light bulb went off the 2nd half yesterday.
The sports are different but the process is the same.
GoVols!
Hudro writes:
My daughter's SAT went down the second time she took it and then back up the third. So you don't always improve each time you take the test. She is a UT grad today.
The important thing about West is he is in school and paying his own way. With out of state tuition being what it is, to me that shows a real solid commitment to UT. I am glad to have him ,supposed flaw or not.
volwalk writes:
itsme-(Memphis fan),
We will see you in a couple of weeks and put another footprint on your forehead! Heres to winning 8 out of the last 11 and 3 in a row.
Go Vols!
1vavolfan writes:
West came down here this summer before any other Freshman along with Hopson.He worked hard and he is now paying his own way to school, hardly character flaws.Tennessee's problems go way beyond back up point guard play.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Props to Hudro and 1vavolfan; they get it. West is a good kid who really wants to be a Vol. We could have used him this year, but an extra year of physical and emotional maturation and a solid foundation in his academics will pay off big time next year, both for the team and for himself.
THE_VOL writes:
It's about time somebody jumped Maze's azz...he loves all that "The Solution" BS when the fact is he can't even spell SOLUTION! Just another AI wannabe so far.
TheTrueTO1731 writes:
I'm not even going to waste my time arguing that Pearl is a great coach and that he has the bball progam headed in the right direction. If you can't see that you're either blind or have not been following UT Bball long enough to know the state of the program before Pearl arrived.
I would however, like to point out the fact that the REAL UT would be the one that was founded before Texas was even a state. In fact utexas would be U of Mexico if it wasn't for the great state of Tennessee. Anyone who would consider that school in Austin, that continually tries to copy our schools colors, logs, etc., to be the Real UT is in serious need of a history lesson.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Nice try, buddy, but it ain't gonna work. That Memphis troll is completely impervious to reason,and oblivious to good taste, or any other valid justification for posting on here. He HATES UT and nothing you or anyone else says will change that in the slightest. Save the wear and tear on your typing fingers and let him stew in his own miserableness!
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