It was a grizzly finish for the Tennessee men's basketball team Tuesday night.
The Oakland Golden Grizzlies rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to score an 89-82 upset over the No. 7-ranked Vols before an announced crowd of 16,784 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Melvin Goins had 18 points, six assists and four steals, and Brian Williams had 18 points and 13 rebounds for UT (7-1). Tobias Harris also scored 16 points and Cameron Tatum had 13 for the Vols.
"They've knocked on the door, knocked on the door with a lot of people, and they finally knocked one down,'' UT coach Bruce Pearl said, referring to Oakland (6-5) holding leads in losses to Purdue, Illinois and Michigan State earlier this season.
"Bottom line, we didn't guard our yard,'' said Pearl, 40-3 against non-conference opponents in Thompson-Boling Arena during his six-year tenure. "They drove by our guards too easily, with the exception of Melvin, and we didn't have our identity; our identity is defense and rebounding.''
Oakland center Keith Benson, a 6-foot-11 projected first-round NBA draft pick, led the Golden Grizzlies with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
Oakland out-rebounded the Vols 36-35, and out-shot UT from the field, .536 to .444.
Tennessee was particularly flat in the second half, shooting 34 percent from the floor, including 0-for-10 beyond the 3-point arc and 10-for-19 from the foul line.
"Top 10 teams, when they get teams down they step on their throats, and we didn't do that,'' Williams said. "That's why we're not a great team yet.
"As soon as we got down, we panicked . . . we didn't stick to our game plan, offensively or defensively, and we lost the game because of it.''
The largest deficit the Vols faced prior to Tuesday night's game was three points. Pearl had expressed concern over the past week over how the team might respond when trailing.
Oakland went on a 13-0 run from the 6:58 mark of the second half until there was 1:56 left to play in building a five-point lead.
The Vols failed to score a field goal between the 8:24 mark, when they were up 73-66, and the 1:56 mark, when a Goins transition layup cut the Grizzlies' lead to 81-78.
"Our halftime adjustment was to keep the ball in front of us; we didn't want them driving by us,'' Oakland coach Greg Kempe said. "We just said at the half we have to get back and defend, and get our rebounds.''
Tennessee made only two of seven shots from the foul line over the final 6:45, and the Vols were 2-of-15 shooting from the field over the final 8 1/2 minutes.
Oakland made it a point to stop SEC player of the week Scotty Hopson, holding the Vols' shooting guard to seven points on 1-of-7 shooting after his career-high 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting in UT's 83-76 win over then-No. 3 Pittsburgh on Saturday.
"Before the game we talked about the law of averages, and (Hopson) made just about every shot he took against Pitt,'' Kampe said. "He couldn't keep making them at that rate - no one could - so we just wanted to push him out a little bit further and not give Hopson any easy shots.''
UT held a 50-39 halftime lead despite Benson striking for 20 of his points in the first 20 minutes.
The Vols offset the Oakland star with balance and efficiency.
Goins and Tatum scored 11 points apiece through the first 20 minutes, and Harris and Williams each had 10.
UT players also combined to go 12-for-12 from the foul line before the half.
Oakland led much of the first half until Harris hit a turnaround jumper to tie the game at 31 at the 6:45 mark and trigger a 14-2 Vols run.
Goins capped the spurt with a bucket in transition that gave the Vols a 43-33 lead with 3:23 left before halftime.
Will Hudson (17 points) scored on a putback on the Grizzlies' ensuing possession at the 2:50 mark, giving Oakland its first field goal in nearly five minutes.
It was a sign of things to come in the second half.
"Hudson had six offensive rebounds, that's at the four (position) where we had Tobias, (Steven) Pearl and Kenny Hall,'' Bruce Pearl said. "We had prepared anticipating that (Jeronne) Maymon would play.''
When Harris left the game with his fourth foul, with 6:58 left to play, the Grizzles went on their decisive 13-0 run. Hudson (6-9, 235) had five of those points
Maymon, a 6-7, 258-pound power forward, is eligible as of today, Pearl said. The sophomore transfer appealed for eligibility after passing his fall semester classes and getting documentation from teachers that his grades wouldn't be changed. The UT office of the provost denied the request, saying grades aren't official until today.
The Vols return to action at 8 p.m. Friday at Charlotte (4-6).
Oregon sends Lady Vols home from…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 192
RockyToptoNeyland writes:
im so pissed right now
raoucubs writes:
No Defense in the second half. They shot 52% from the field. We have a potent offense but going to have to get stronger on defense. Had a pretty good lead and could not keep it. Seems like a recurring theme. Let Pitt back in the game as well.
usnavyvolfaninva_still_getting_paid writes:
OK....
S%*^ty game. Think we all can see that. NO, not having Maymon didn't lose the game for us. He wasn't in Pittsburgh either, so lets not get carried away.
Didn't take care of the ball tonight; Hopson sucked. hopefully they got all the bad stuff out of their system.
I am happy for ESPN that they finally got to see the Vols lose, now maybe they'll STFU about Pearl; naah, that's getting my hopes up to high.
Off to bed...bring on the trolls.
Gart5 writes:
You can say that again. I live right next to the Oakland campus and now I will have to deal with them.
usnavyvolfaninva_still_getting_paid writes:
Oh, yeah, and my wife has the nerve to flip back and forth between the debacle in Knoxville and the one in Waco!
tensie2004 writes:
welcome to reality! One game we are world beaters and the next we could not beat a junior college team! So goes the fortune of all Vol fans.
PelicanVOL writes:
Stephen Pearl is a disgrace and would never play one minute of basketball for any other D-I School. Just cause his dad is coach doensn't mean he gets to to go in there and %$%^%&$%^ everything up as soon as he runs onto the court......or does it??
VolunteerLifer writes:
Oakland was the better team tonite. They were mentally tougher. It looked like we were flat after the Pitt win. They seemed to get all the loose balls and contested rebounds. Our team should learn from this that they aren't as good as they thought they were. It is a real weakness that Brian W is such a poor free throw shooter. It really hurts us down the stretch. The other team took Scotty out of the game and that means the others have to step it up, but they couldn't. It's not a disaster, its just a loss.
BleedsOrangeinMO writes:
So where did Hopson go?? He plays great one game and does not show up for the next. The boys must get consistent!!!!
eduardo writes:
Way to go UT admin. for not clearing Maymon, who might have giving the team some life. And Stephen what the heck are you doing after missed shots in the backcourt. No sense in coming home and playing like this.
SEC1 writes:
Hey, does anybody know the heimlich maneuver because Bruce Pearl and his overrated 7th rank Vols are starting to "CHOKE"?
peerlessvolfan writes:
Me, too! I live about 20 min. from OU and I'll have to put up with OU alum tomorrow! Ugh!
JBruce writes:
Scotty "No Show" Hopson finished 1/7 for 2pts. Completely pathetic effort!
schymtz writes:
Phewie. Double Phewie with the ladies. Oakland was overdue and UT looked tired. Dr. whats her name didn't help. SH looked like his sophomore self. Euchie.
MOOREVOLS writes:
All the good from beating Villanova and Pitt is gone now. It's like the exhibition loss all over again. 7-0 and #7 in the country and we just lost to a 5-5 team. Reminds of football losses to North Texas, Memphis and Vanderbilt.
TNPilgrim writes:
The Not-So-Big-Orange is obviously an immature team that doesn't have it's act together. No chemistry, no leadership, no focus. However, they've got until March to get the recipe right.
TopTenn writes:
The classic trap game. Oakland is a solid experienced team. GBO!!! Beat Charlotte Friday.
usnavyvolfaninva_still_getting_paid writes:
Wow...took you long enough..having connectivity problems?
I'd just love to see your crocs go to ANY Big East school and do what the Vols did! Really! Love to! Hell, your team isn't even the best team in FL! (See UCF).
chap4tenn2 writes:
What a defensive wreck for the Vols! However, Oakland did some things that really exposed some major issues. Can someone please block out and get a freakin rebound? Oh well, guess that fine art was only taught in high school.
Razor784 writes:
What's up with these guys??? How can a team beat two top 10 teams at neutral sites and lose to Oakland and Indianapolis on their home court. Scotty Hopson has got to be more consistant.
easttnvol21 writes:
Well, we were outplayed by a hungrier team----Scotty did one of his disappearing acts----looked scared
RockyToptoNeyland writes:
when was the last time any tennessee team showed consistency, we are inconsistency U
james#216392 writes:
Pearl lost this game with about 10-11 minutes to go (13 point lead) and they hit a 11-2 run and Pearl took no timeouts. He didn't get any offense into the game and let them take control. He shouldn't be wondering why they out scored us in the second half. He should be wondering why he is taking two timeouts home when they had two big runs and none were used.
BleedsOrangeinMO writes:
Yeah so the other team shut down Scotty. If he plans on going to the NBA to PLAY then he better learn how to play with a double team or whatever.Does he think teams will not guard him in the NBA???
howdydude writes:
It is completely mind boggling that Stephen Pearl gets the playing time that he does. He may be the coach's son, but that is no excuse for giving him so many minutes on the court. He is a fouling, turn-over machine who is completely useless and inept when it comes to generating any offense. Maddening.
SeanJean writes:
Wow. Reading these comments makes me sad. Yeah it's a disappointing loss but it's one loss. It's a long season kids, and we aren't going to go undefeated just because we played a couple of good games. Take a deep breath, try to find something else to occupy your time and energy, and move on.
PelicanVOL writes:
I agree completely-- see my post above.
What a disaster this guy is and if you noticed he was in the game each time when Oakland made their runs to close the lead TN had.
GerryOP writes:
Glad to see all the loyal Vol fans around here. You guys must get really exhausted jumping on and off the Vol bandwagon.
DebKY writes:
Everytime Pearl plays his second string for extended period of time, the other team has the opportunity to bounce back.
Tennessee is the only team that I know who's starting five spend long periods of time on the bench.
Harris will have difficulty being the freshmen of the week with Kentucky's freshmen because he doesn't get the opportunity to play as many minutes.
Tatum was hot and should have stayed on the floor, and McBee should have stayed on the bench with little Pearl!
RockyToptoNeyland writes:
dude, it's f@#$%&^ oakland, oakland, oaaaaaakland, who in the hell is oakland? there not even from oakland, ca, so yea, we are going to be a little heated when we just lost our reputation we had going
PelicanVOL writes:
I'd put the Summit kid in before I put Pearl in the game.....he can't be any worse.
allenf1#223463 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
TopTenn writes:
You are certainly right. All these comments will change when we go on a 15-0 tear. Fans are fickle, success breeds expectations.
murrayvol writes:
Not if you're really quiet.
SummittsCourt writes:
flat, lifeless performance. took oakland lightly and got beat. oh well, what matters is who wins the last game. Go Vols, learn the lessons from tonight and go get 'em next game.
murrayvol writes:
That's about right.
PelicanVOL writes:
If UT doesn't beat Charlotte by more than 30 points Friday something is wrong.
They just kicked their best player and top scorer off the team today.
tomkats3242 writes:
Not only is he overated but Johnson on the womens team is also overated. Both need to learn the game and the fact that it is played for the entire game. Worse thing is the media print their names and they believe what they read. POOR coaching job also.
RockyToptoNeyland writes:
hahaha, probably sits at home playing world of warcraft and gettin off
Gart5 writes:
I still support Coach Pearl 100%. His teams in the past though randomly give out terrible efforts. This isn't the worst loss I have seen. Last year to USC was. Anyone who watched that game would know what I'm talking about. I don't think we ever came close to leading in that game. We actually tried for 27 minutes in this one.
james#216392 writes:
With about 6 minutes to go and down 2 or three, get Pearl out and put Harris back in. I like Steven's hustle but not near the end of a close game. He can't score and gets way too emotional in close games, like his dad and most of us fans.
Williams played very well right up to missing 4-6 free throws. I coached a kid like him once. He's a turnover at the free throw line.
Rich_Is_Re-born writes:
LOL, dude averages 17.9ppg (Hopson). You don't do that by being inconsistent. They Threw the kitchen sink at Hopson and nobody stepped up. And the next time Brian Williams airballs a FT and laughs about it someone needs to sit his smiley azz on the bench. Hopson scoring 27 doesn't win a game, the team does. Hopson scoring 2 points doesn't lose a game the team does. Looks like some of our fans have more to learn than this team.
vol_4_fan writes:
Yea we did not play worth a phooey the last 15 min, but you know all of us have bad days and times. It is silly to get on this site after big wins and brag and rave how good we are, then we lose a game against a very solid team no matter what their name is and all of the negative post come pouring in, Come on people you never win them all. Go Vols!
GerryOP writes:
Really? One of the worst losses in UT history? How much basketVol history have you seen?
Don't want to break your heart lil' fellar, but I'm sure you won't be missed in Charlotte Friday night.
92volalum writes:
I agree with all the posters TN was up double digits and oakland goes on a run and Steve P and most of the second team stays in the game except for Scotty H and he is a baby walking around the court with his shoulders and head hanging low.. WTF
BP is a great coach but he look lost tonight... to much time talking about the pitt game?? you just don't lose this game if you are a top 10 coach and team...IMO (so everyone slam me now)
sorry I'm pissed because every time this team gets a lot of media play they fall flat on their face and that my friend is the coaches fault.... WTF were they thinking.. its oakland people oakland................
huntined#565710 writes:
That is true scratch..We beat the GENERALS and lose to the Privates!!!
rockytopnation16 writes:
I agree with the Steven Pearl comments. We have such a deep bench, but they won't develop with the playing time steven is getting. He contributes nothing; when he's in, its 4 on 5 basketball. If he doesn't play, Vols win by 20. I will party in the streets when he graduates.
james#216392 writes:
Hopson never showed much energy tonight. I had to wonder if he was sick.
Williams had the game of his life up until he last 3 minutes or so (4-6 free throws).
0-10 from three line in second half.
Taking two time outs home instead of using them during the two big runs. Maybe there is a new rule and we will have 7 next game.
TopTenn writes:
Melvin Goins has heart. He is a final four PG. His desire will motivate this team to the final four.
rdrgtr writes:
This game was identical to the Indy game. What gives? It was like dajavoo. Even the floor was the same color. Total callapse in the last 10 minutes of the game. I have never really been too critical of Steven Pearl but tonight I thought he showed poor decision making on both sides of the floor. You only noticed him when something bad happened. At my count, 7 mistakes and nothing positive. Brian Williams needs some extra time at the free-throw line in practice. Oakland was the only team to actually go by the scouting report. I hope this is not a roller coaster we all are strapped into...I know i am having a hard time keeping my supper down right now.
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