Prince made Memphis pay last season

This year celebrates the centennial season of men's basketball at Tennessee. The News Sentinel continues its series looking into the players, teams and events that have molded an exciting history.

The name is J.P. Prince, not P.J.

That was the message Tennessee’s sophomore guard underscored last February after what was arguably the biggest men’s basketball game ever played in the state of Tennessee.

The FedExForum was Ground Zero for college basketball Feb. 23, hosting a battle of No.1 (Memphis) vs. No. 2 (Tennessee). The viewing audience of 5.28 million was a record for an ESPN college basketball game.

Fortunately, the game lived up to every bit of the hype.

The Vols won 66-62, and none other than Prince, a hometown Memphis kid spurned by the Tigers, was the hero of heroes.

Prince, a 47 percent free-throw shooter, went to the stripe with UT nursing a 62-61 lead with 8.8 seconds to play. He hit both tries for a three-point lead that helped the Vols hold on for the upset.

Prince, who was motivated by Memphis coach John Calipari referring to him as “P.J.” during the build-up to the game, scored all 13 of his points in the second half of the game that ruined Memphis’ perfect season and ended the Tigers’ 47-game home winning streak.

Calipari this week admired the intensity of another Vol, Tyler Smith, who scored 16 points that night. His contested jumper in the lane put UT ahead to stay, 62-61, with 28 seconds left.

“Tyler Smith, really, the last three baskets, his will to win was unbelievable,’’ Calipari said.

“You see the tape again and it’s like, ‘Holy cow, where did he get that from?’’’

Tennessee was greeted by hundreds of fans when it got back to Knoxville in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

On Monday, the Vols were voted No. 1 in the Associated Press poll for the first time in the history of the program.

And on Tuesday, they were upset at Vanderbilt, assuring the reign atop the rankings would last only one week.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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