NASHVILLE — Wayne Chism had 17 points and 10 rebounds and No. 15 Tennessee overcame its worst first half of the season to beat LSU 59-49 in the first round of the Southeastern Conference on Thursday.
With the teams tied at 30, Cameron Tatum stretched across the lane to hit a layup with 14:28 left and launch a 16-4 run for Tennessee (24-7). J.P. Prince dunked off an alley-oop pass from Brian Williams to extend the Vols' lead to 46-34, their largest margin of the game.
LSU (11-20) held Tennessee to 25.9 percent from the floor in the first half, the Vols worst shooting performance of any half this season. Tennessee also committed 17 turnovers.
Still, the Tigers couldn't take advantage of the Vols' struggles with 36.4 shooting.
Tennessee, the only ranked team to play on the first day after finishing third in the East Division, advances to play Mississippi, the West's No. 2 seed.
Storm Warren led LSU with 18 points.
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Comments » 151
SeanJean writes:
Pitiful game. They better wake up if they want to make any noise in the post season. I'm looking at you Mr. Hopson. We're lucky LSU is as bad as they are, and they are really, really bad.
schymtz writes:
Chism won this one almost by himself. Bobby saved it down the stretch with made FT's. Hope this team doesn't have too big a party tonight: They made a case for why they didn't deserve the Bye. BUT now 24-7 and won 49-59. Didn't feel like a 10-pt. win.
nocleats writes:
1 down 9 to go !!
Major_Magilicutty writes:
Bobby Maze saved us. 9-10 from the free throw line is excellent and was the reason we pulled this one out.
I wish every one of our players exhibited the same enthusiasm as Chism. A pretty inspired performance on his part too. The quick threes at inopportune times are going to give me a heart attack though.
Brian Williams can't hit a layup, but played big on the defensive end.
JP continues to amaze and stupify. Boneheaded plays followed by amazing examples of athletic ability.
Scotty Hopson...0-8 and 2-4 at the free throw line. Weak, weak, weak. Such talent but so inconsistent and soft (at times). He played well defensively, but that offensive performance is miserable.
RoadTrip writes:
Ugly with a capital U. Other than Chism and Maze; what was the rest of the team thinking about? It sure wasn't baskeball. Maybe it will wake them up for the Rebs tomorrow.
volatil writes:
U-G-L-Y but a W-I-N! Scotty's face is on a milk carton again.
AlpharettaVol writes:
Lucky LSU was so bad. Otherwise, Vols would have been one and done. Better wake up or it will be another short post-season.
HtownVol writes:
Bruce better light up Hopson. His play today was horrible and VERY LAZY!
Chism is the only reason UT will play tomorrow.
I hope there is a gym near the hotel so UT can go practice some shooting.
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
Dang didn't get to see the win, but on the radio, it sounded like a dogfight. Mississippi will be out for payback tomorrow they better rest up tonight.
LSG410EC83 writes:
Seems like this team tends to play like the team they are playing. A win is a win though, no matter how ugly. Hopefully this will be a wake up call and get their heads straightened out for the upcoming games. Go VOLS.
schymtz writes:
Rattle those bones, Doc. Somethin' need to be connected before tomorrow! And I am havin' Chicken for dinner!
chucka writes:
ITS A TOURNEY WIN. Something us vol fans don't know a lot about. Stop being ungreatful. Were watching one of top 15 coaches in the country work. Just take it and move on. We love these guys win or loose and we snatched a win from the tigers today. Go Vols!
WhitePineVol77 writes:
WWWWWWWWW more
send writes:
hopson has hurt this team more times than this finally fans has started seeing it he should not be a starter he plays no D and he hasto take 10 bad shots to finally hit some good one !!
hdhurst writes:
You said it Major. I sure hope they were conserving their energy for tomorrow, because no one outside Chism had it for 9/10 of the game. Talk all you want about how well LSU matches up against us, but we were not even focused enough today to catch the ball. Ok, enough knocking them on that. Come out firing on all cylinders tomorrow and all is well. Get your rest boys, you will need it against Warren and Co. Go VOLS!!
SeanJean writes:
Despite the run on sentence and butchering of the English language, I agree that Bruce should bench Hopson for the next game. He has no business starting playing like that. It's all about intensity and effort with Hopson, and it just wasn't there today. It was obvious.
BubbaJ writes:
Give a bad LSU team credit, they came to play. The Vols did not. Think their mind was on possible UK match-up Saturday. Well if they play like this tomorrow, Ole Miss will send them back to K-town early.
Have to give some props to Chism, Williams, and Maze. Chism for just wanting it, Williams for dominating the boards, and Maze for a great touch from the FT stripe.
chucka writes:
obviously a lot of fans haven't played tourney ball. The vols have to play 4 games in 4 days to win it all. The point is to win the first one without wearing yourself out. They still want to play 3 more games. Thats why Maze didn't play a lot of minutes today.
osbymartin#581730 writes:
Tournament basketball...it doesn't have to be pretty! SURVIVE and ADVANCE!
ArkyVol73 writes:
Another win for the vols. I hope we got it out of our system. I know its hard to play a team that only won 2 conference games, but it's march time guys. Got to have a much better effort, way,way to much standing around which is no excuse for. Worse team, hurt our RPI to play, and should have had a bye. IT SHOWED!
johnlg00 writes:
Whatever the team did last night and all day today, they had better do the exact opposite tonight and tomorrow! They came out like they had spent all night carousing on Printer's Alley! Prince, Hopson, and, yes, Little Pearl really stunk it up today. Thank goodness for Weezy and Bobby! Brian was strong defensively and on the boards. In fact, the whole team played pretty well defensively, though LSU doesn't have many weapons. Still, tourney time is a crazy time. Both Syracuse and Villanova lost in the Big East; a strong but inconsistent Wake Forest lost by 21 on their alternate home court in Greensboro in the ACC tourney. Survive and advance; that's what it's all about this time of year. Get off your butts, Vols, take your heads out of them, and kick somebody ELSE's tomorrow! GBO!!! TCB!!!
send writes:
ALabama football why dont we just give them the wins Mike slive has to go!
There’s a reason the SEC hasn’t released the league schedule for the 2010 season.
That’s because some games could be switching dates.
Charles Bloom, an SEC associate commissioner, said Thursday that the league is trying to provide some relief for Alabama so that the Crimson Tide won't have to play six of their eight conference games next season when the opponent is coming off a bye week.
As it stands now, Alabama’s final six SEC opponents during the 2010 season are scheduled to have bye weeks prior to facing the Crimson Tide.
Those six teams are South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn.
Bloom said the entire schedule wouldn’t be torn up to accommodate Alabama, but that a more likelihood scenario was a handful of games moving so that the Crimson Tide wouldn’t have to play so many teams next season on the heels of byes.
“This is something that’s important to the entire league, because nobody wants to be in that same position a year or two from now,” Bloom said. “So we’re looking at a way to balance it out this year and for years to come. The difference is that it might be a little tweak this year with more widespread changes coming in future years.”
Blooms said the league hopes to have any changes finalized for the 2010 season prior to the spring meetings in Destin, Fla., in May.
SeanJean writes:
I don't buy the whole "LSU came to play argument." LSU did nothing in this game. We just couldn't get out of our own way. Bad ball handling, awful passes, terrible shooting, you name it. LSU did nothing in this game and still barely lost. We won, and that's all that matters, but we have to play a lot better, and quick. Unacceptable game for this time of the year.
chucka writes:
The exact opposite? Yeah lets play hard and loose. Yep makes sense.
send writes:
OK! but hopson is a big let down for this team i rather have Spearl play aleast he does hustle hopson just stands around on both sides of the ball he should not be a starter!
schymtz writes:
A few "Well Done's":
-Decent defense, especially on Warren and Mitchell.
-Maze down the stretch hit Free Throws!
-Chism played very well and for the most part avoided foul trouble.
Three players in double digits scoring
Colliervol writes:
Just an awful exhibition of basketball. Always manage at least one stinker in the SEC tournament and there it was. At least got out of it with a W but that's the frustrating thing about this team. Watch them beat Kansas and KY and perform like they did last Saturday and then watch something like this. Just can't figure them out and I'm certain BP can't either. To be a little bit fair though, LSU always makes us play ugly and I can't figure that out either.
But the name of the game in March is win and move on. Nothing else matters. As Yoda said, "Either do or do not, there is no "try". Or something like that.
osbymartin#581730 writes:
Unacceptable would have been losing by 10! They didn't play well but they WON and in March THAT is all that matters!
gillblog writes:
Does anybody think they might just have been holding something back intentionally? Save some energy for tomorrow afternoon and we MIGHT have a chance.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Geezsus, hard to watch.
Well, it's a win.
SeanJean writes:
I agree with the end result, but we should be putting forth a little more effort at tournament time. That was a really poor showing, and criticism is well deserved.
All_Vol_in_GA writes:
I'm just glad we got this pitiful performance out of our system. Just think if we would have had a bye and then put this game up against a decent team. This one was good for the Vols. They don't get any uglier than this one, and they pulled it out. Go Big Orange!
osbymartin#581730 writes:
Thats true! But remember they have to play potentially 4 days and you have to conserve a little energy, not saying thats an excuse for a subpar performance but winning is what you have to do and they did!
MTN_MAN_VOL writes:
I thought williams had one of his best games. Seven points, 11 rebounds. In the mix all day.
usnavyvolfaninva_still_getting_paid writes:
Anyone notice that 'Nova and the 'Cuse lost in the first round of the Big East tourney? this seems to be a common theme for conference tourneys.
Mule_Days_King writes:
Now if he could just hit a layup.
jdcdjc writes:
I hope they are more ready for Miss than they were for LSU. Reminded me of the USC game with different results.
osbymartin#581730 writes:
14 boards according to the box score. He was a man on the glass
Ringside writes:
next
SeanJean writes:
No doubt about it. He was a big factor today. I think he actually had 13 rebounds also, just for the record.
schymtz writes:
It took OT for UT to Beat Mississippi in Knoxville 712-69. Mississippi has won four in a row. GO VOLS! BEAT the rebels!!
AllVolAllDay writes:
Boy this was a UGLY WIN, the good news is that there is no way we will play this way in consecutive games and we will be plenty motivated for the catz if they make it (I hope). Question for my Vol faithful... is it just me or or you growing impatient with SCOTTY! This guy has the talent to be one of the greatest Vols of ALL TIME but he just won't turn it up!!! Without Weezy we don't win this game and he won't be here next year, I don't know about the rest of you but i don't want this year's scotty leading my team, nevertheless, i luv all that bleeds orange! Go Vols!!!
richvol writes:
I would take Cameron Tatum over Scotty Hopson at any time or any game. Hopson was a no show again and is a turnover waiting to happen. Tatum is much more consistant and Pearl needs to sit Hopson when he's not producing and let Cameron play. Scotty hurts the team. Yeah he can score 14 but that happens about every sixth game.
Williams was a beast on the boards...if he could shoot a simple layup he could be an important part of the offense.
Maze did well in closing out the game and Goins was a real pest on defense.
Ugly,but a win.
schymtz writes:
71-69
BigHornBuckShot writes:
Bruce.....Find some players and quick. If Scotty is not scoring, he must sit. Put some of the other players out there. What a fiasco. Played probably the worse team in the SEC in years, and win by 10. No. 4 seed in hand, and now down to 5 or 6. Better win tomorrow over a bubble team at best, or drop to maybe 7. Come on Vols.
chl1958 writes:
Enjoy the win and pretend you didn't watch the game. We are still alive in the tournament;only 3 more to go!
thevoice writes:
Yeah, I'm puzzled too why Mini Pearl played so early.
SeanJean writes:
Wow. While I agree with the in game assessment, no way we did we hurt our seeding with this game. A win is a win.
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
I'm glad they won but Hopson does need to produce like he is capable of. This off-season he needs to put on 20 lbs. and get a killer instinct. He's not a strong part of this team and next year he will be sorely needed.....
NobodyCares (Inactive) writes:
Yes sir Mr. Squirrely Guy, we won today. 1/2 the teams who played today are done. Our Vols aren't done.
If you're dumpin' on my Vols, boy,
You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
(With apologies to The Hag...)
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