Tennessee Men's Basketball
J.P. Prince and his Tennessee teammates watched No. 2 Kentucky erase a 19-point lead and knew they might also be watching a shot at a second major upset slip away.
But, the Vols’ senior leader wouldn’t let that happen. With 90 seconds left, he scored on a broken play and added four clutch free throws down the stretch to lift No. 19 Tennessee past the surging Wildcats 74-65 on Saturday.
“That was a mature win,” Prince said. “We had a big lead, let them come back, but didn’t panic.”
No, in fact the Vols (21-7, 9-5 SEC) seem to be growing accustomed to knocking off the giants of college basketball this year. Last month, they also handed top-ranked Kansas its only loss.
The Wildcats (27-2, 12-2), who had won eight in a row since their only other loss last month to South Carolina, had trailed by 19 early in the second half but managed to tie the game at 65 with just over two minutes left.
“When they tied it up, I’m saying to myself, ’We worked too hard,’” said Tennessee guard Bobby Maze. “We believed in ourselves.”
That’s when Prince went to work, scoring six of his 20 points in the final 90 seconds. Add in a 3-pointer by Scotty Hopson — his only one in six attempts — and the Vols finished with nine straight points to ice it. Hopson had 15.
“When I caught the ball, I just shot and I knew it was going to go in from there,” Hopson said.
Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said that Kentucky provided plenty of help in the upset. The Wildcats couldn’t have been much colder from long range, connecting on just two of 22 attempts, contributing to season-worst 35 percent field goal shooting.
Kentucky coach John Calipari said, considering that, he was surprised the game was as close as it was.
“You shoot two for 22 and it’s 65-65? Wow,” he said.
The Wildcats got their usual solid games from freshman superstars John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, but it wasn’t enough.
Wall had 19 points, while Cousins added 15 points and 14 rebounds. Six of those points came on successive trips down the court as he made two free throws, then scored on two straight fastbreak dunks, both off passes from Wall. That tied the game at 65 before the Vols pulled away at the end.
“Every time we were down I was always thinking we were going to win,” Cousins said. “I just knew we had to make plays down the stretch.”
This time, though, Tennessee always seemed to have an answer.
Tennessee missed its first six shots and was down 4-0 early, but the Vols got back-to-back 3-pointers from Prince and Maze, igniting an 18-0 run. Eight different Tennessee players scored during the streak, including Skylar McBee on a closely-guarded 3.
Maze praised how his team spread the ball around and was particularly complimentary of Hopson for the clutch late 3 off a Maze assist.
“He’s growing up so fast,” Maze said. “Scotty, he’s hard on himself, but I feel like if I make him take that shot, he’ll make it.”
Kentucky went more than five minutes without a point before Wall added two free throws to make it 18-6. The Wildcats connected on just two of 14 early shots from the floor — both by Cousins, who opened the game by dunking an alley-oop pass from Darius Miller, then grabbed an offensive rebound and heaved the follow through the net.
The much bigger Wildcats were outscored in the paint 42-36 and barely won the rebounding game 40-36. Prince said the key was showing that the Vols could go toe-to-toe with Kentucky.
“I knew that running with them was never a problem,” he said. “It’s just rebounding is where they get up on people.”
After a jumper by Cameron Tatum gave Tennessee its biggest lead at 54-35, the Wildcats scored the next 11 points to cut it to single digits.
Wall got five of them on acrobatic layups on consecutive trips down the floor. The first was particularly impressive, as he was about to hit the deck after drawing a foul when he flipped the ball through the hoop using just his outstretched palm. He added the free throw to make it a three-point play.
The Wildcats have outperformed last year’s NIT team in virtually every way except one. That team knocked off Tennessee in Knoxville, behind Jodie Meeks’ UK-record 54 points.
“I think our team and our program was on display today,” Pearl said.
Kentucky beat Tennessee in its previous matchup in Lexington, when center Wayne Chism didn’t start due to injury. Chism, who also was slammed to the ground in the team’s last game against Florida, was relatively ineffective in this one, scoring just eight points and missing all seven 3-point attempts.
Wall said he was disappointed the comeback attempt fell short but said the stakes would be much higher next month in the NCAA tournament.
“Just imagine two weeks from now, if we lost this game, our season’s over with,” he said.
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
National Signing Day 2010
Tennessee Lady Vols 82, Auburn Tigers 64
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 476
All_Vol writes:
nice job fellas. a little bit from everyone.
LCfastball writes:
HELL YES
appalachianvol writes:
This team can play when they want to.
volstuckinMI writes:
Bring in #1 and #2 they all lose in Knoxville. Go Vols
RockyTopRenegade writes:
No upset. We will beat Blue more often than not
orangecountyvols writes:
Wow. Blowing a 19 point lead and the Cats tie the game............then Vols roll off 9 at the end. What a gutsy effort. I thought when Bruce didn't call a timeouts during the KY run, that was the game slipping away. Williams was huge.
Live by the 3 and die by it Kentucky.
Lostvolinhighweeds writes:
KNS version of 'first'.
Great game. It is SOOOOOO damn good to be a Vol!
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
Here is where the party is! 74-65! Come on haters. The lizards said TN wouldn't win today also.
WillieGault writes:
I said its GREAT TO BE A TENNESSEE VOL
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
Come on fellow fans......join me in chanting "It's Great to be a Tennessee Vol! It's Great to be a Tennessee Vol! It's Great to be a Tennessee Vol! It's Great to be a Tennessee Vol! It's Great to be a Tennessee Vol!"
gillblog writes:
Absolutely! Every-body stepped up today and look what they accomplished! Williams was finally the big factor he is capable of being. What a coaching job !
bricker865 writes:
Did KY set an NCAA record for trips to the free throw line. Some of them were deserved but good grief. Great win though!
kyvol98 writes:
Life in Central Kentucky is a heck of a lot better after that win!
GO VOLS!
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
Kentucky only going like 5-21 from 3 pt. land helped a TON!
rockytopatl writes:
An incredible effort. Anybody on here who keeps saying Pearl can't coach is a fool. It was Prince's best effort as a Volunteer and probably the best half-court defense since the '07-'08 team.
This was huge for seeding. Another big resume builder. No. 4, anybody? Or at least a 5?
fpcoach writes:
Nice job boys. A resume building win. Good job by students, the cats are not worth storming the court. We are supposed to win at home, and we did. GBO
CBP....the Best thing that has ever happened to BIG ORANGE BASKETBALL>
sherrycook#211302 writes:
What a great game! Great team effort and game plan by the coaching staff! Going to make it fun living in Lexington for a while, LOL.
1974Vol writes:
Finally got a call against Wall on that charge Williams took. Was beginning to think he was never going to get an OF no matter what he did. That was a big turning point in the game. And how about JP making those FT at the end?
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
Give 'em heck up there kyvol98!
sandiegovolunteer writes:
ok breathe, breathe, breathe
CryptoVol writes:
Life is Good in Central KY. Skin them kittens!!!!
DarthWilson writes:
A Very nice win. Maybe this will inspire some kind of post season run. The road ahead is still rocky, but that don't matter if you live on ROCKY TOP!
gillblog writes:
to be brutally honest, you have to consider that the back-to-back games took something off of Ky's shooting from 3pt.
walt23tn writes:
I LOVE YOU GUYS! Players, coaches, people on here....I'm so happy right now I can't contain myself. Have a great day, I have to go see how much ORANGE I can feasibly put on my body for Monday at work.
orangeJACKET writes:
umm. we weren't much better. you could say that kept ky in the game also.
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
I hope the crowd chanted "Just like football" after the TV went off.
yabadabadoo1026 writes:
Wowwwwwww. contribution from all--------give it to Bryan Williams, he stepped up so big-------and Maze and Goins will both take it to the hole and JP can make it happen near the basket----great wi------the TBA crowd was great and gets a lot of credit for this one
BeRealistic writes:
TIME FOR ANOTHER BEER!!!!! GO VOLS!!!!!
DarthWilson writes:
GO BIG ORANGE!!! IT'S GREAT TO BE A TENNESSEE VOL!
VOLFROMNC writes:
A big FU to CBS for switching the game to Wake and UNC here in North Carolina with less than a minute left in our game. Glad to see that we pulled it out since it was tied when they switched it.
wildcatbasketball writes:
CONGRATS Vols.....Great win!!! Thought when we came back from 19 to tie we would pull it out...
orangecountyvols writes:
Turning on the t.v. looking for CBS to bring this huge game.......there it was, Notre Dame and Georgetown. Oh well,at least the network switched to our game after the Georgetown game was over. Wearing the Orange at home worried me at first, KY wearing the home white, but TBA sure isn't their home. Think about it Vol fans, this is how Tennessee CAN play when they turn the game switch on. Great effort by BOTH teams.
orangeJACKET writes:
our half court d was deadly! great win. rupp rafters are blaming the refs of course. don't have the numbers in front of me bet i'd wager they shot a ton more free throws than us. it seemed that way at least.
walt23tn writes:
I was thinking the exact same thing. I'm going to pull off the box score for when KY fans(who ALWAYS blame it on the refs when they lose) can see that there was no doubt who had the advantage in the foul column once again.
Major_Magilicutty writes:
Sorry but that's dreaming. It's a great win, sure. But we won't see the top 10
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
KY was 2-21 and TN was 6-25 in 3 pointers. 9% to 23%. For the game FG was 34% for KY 47% for TN.
WillieGault writes:
thanks on behalf of Vol nation for being classy
CRFVols writes:
I SECOND THAT!!! That made me so mad. I hate living in ACC country.
PureOrange writes:
It seemed apparent Slive send orders for refs to get a win for KY, but our Vols beat them and the blue.
Great effort! Great game!
wildcatbasketball writes:
That will not happen too often...we were off today...GONGRATS
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I almost had a heart attack when, just after UK scored to tie the score at 65, my local CBS affiliate CUT AWAY for the start of the UNC-Wake Forest game! They did run a crawler at the bottom of the screen, but it was sheer agony waiting for the updates with no idea what was actually happening. My wife often naps on the recliner while I am watching a game and I am afraid I woke her repeatedly with my whoops as the late score mounted in UT's favor.
I now await with weary, bemused anticipation the arrival of the trolls and naysayers to belittle the UT win. GREAT effort by all the Vols! Solid contributions by everyone involved. Now finish strong with two solid wins at MSU and against Arkansas and await no worse than a #5 seed in the NCAAs. It's a great day to be a Vol fan! GBO!!! TCB!!!
stayingorange writes:
That was a huge effort. Keep it rolling and close out big with wins. As far as the Vols resume, pretty solid with wins over the number 1 and 2 teams in the country, plus a 2-point loss to the number 3 or 4 team in Purdue.
asleep#212036 writes:
To get a 5, we will have to win out the SEC season, which includes a trip to Miss. St, and possibly win one game in the tourney. A 4? Not a chance unless we get to the SEC tourney finals. Remember, on Monday we were projected a 7 seed, after which we lost badly at Florida, a bubble team at best. We have no marquee road wins and a couple of really ugly road losses (USC and Georgia). I would say if we won out, including the SEC tourney, we get a 3. Win out to finals, 4. Win out plus one in tourney, 5. Split the SEC, win one in tourney, 6. Lose out, plus one in tourney, a 7. Lose out period, an 8. Bottom line is that we are even having this discussion, something that 5 years ago I couldn't have imagined. Go Vols!!!
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
THAT SUCKS! Here in TN they went to that game after THE GAME was over.
donniedem writes:
Go Vols Go!! So proud of the effort! Why don't we give this effort every time? If we did give this type of effort each game, we would be hard to beat!! Anyway...It's always great to beat the cats!
GerryOP writes:
Great game! Great effort! Great coaching! Great Vols!
peerlessvolfan writes:
That is incredible--almost up there with when the network switched to a Heidi movie years ago before the end of a Super Bowl!!!!!!!!!!!!
osbymartin#581730 writes:
I understand that games 2 days apart isnt ideal. BUT UT has done it TWICE this year and WON both times... It was a great effort by UT. They could have folded when the big lead disappeared but they didn't!! GO VOLS!!
BIVOLAR_BEAR writes:
I'll raise that!!!
Making the Squid see his least favorite color on the court was a brilliant idea..HBTV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
virginiavolfan writes:
Stephen Pearl plays 24 minutes against Florida and we get beat by 13. He plays 14 minutes today and we beat the number 2 team in the country. Point proved. He did come in the game when we were ahead 53 to 36 with 13:30 left and that is when Kentucky started their run. Oh well, still a great win but he will get us beat in the tournament.
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