Tennessee has the country’s best defense, holding teams to an average of 37% from the field. It’s said that defense wins championships, which isn’t a wrong sentiment.
But sometimes the defense fails you. It happens. It’s basketball.
Ole Miss, who had lost nine of the last 10 versus Tennessee, played spoiler on Wednesday night at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion, holding off the No. 4 Vols 78-76. Igor Milicic had a look at the basket as time expired, but his shot rolled off the rim.
It’s hard to win when just about every shot goes in for the opposing team down the stretch, especially from one player (more on that in a bit). For what it’s worth, this Ole Miss team did get a top five win at Bama; this wasn’t going to be a cakewalk. Everyone knew that. A two seed is not bad by any means, but this was such a winnable game.
Nonetheless, Tennessee still has a lot to play for.
Chaz Lanier—who leads the Vols in scoring with 17.8 points per game— scored seven of UT’s first nine points to open things up. However, a few early turnovers prohibited the Vols’ offense a bit.
Jahmai Mashack—fresh off his game winner versus Alabama on Saturday— in a show of confidence, drove to the basket and made two free throws early in the first half. It was a sign of things to come; he ended up scoring a three before the end of the half and tallied four rebounds.
For the first eight minutes or so, it was a back-and-forth scoring affair. A Lanier three saw UT’s biggest lead of the first half; 29-20. But Ole Miss proceeded to go on a 9-0 run. Free throw exchanges from both teams filled the rest of the half. Once the buzzer sounded, the score was 41-36 in favor of the Vols.
The Vols scored first to begin the second half, but a 6-0 Rebels run thanks to poor transition defense pulled them within two before the first TV timeout. Jordan Gainey made two free throws to restore order, but then, cold shooting over a near five minute stretch plagued the Vols from truly putting the game out of reach.
Mashack got shoved at the 12:36 mark, but interestingly Ole Miss was not called for a foul. Life in the SEC is physical, and the Vols are no stranger to that.
Back-to-back dunks by Tennessee’s post, Felix Okpara, cushioned UT’s lead to seven, but it would not last long. More turnovers and fouls saw the score become tied at 63 apiece with a little over six minutes to go. The game was on.
Jaemyn Brakefield came off the bench for Ole Miss and could not be stopped in the second half. He scored 19, well above his 11 points per game season average.
Ole Miss was up four with seconds on the clock, and it looked like the game was all but over. But Igor Milicic had a huge and-one three and made the ensuing free throw to tie things up.
Could UT get a stop? The answer was no. Brakefield—who else— tipped the ball in with eight seconds left due to a rebounding debacle from the Vols. Milicic had the ball back in his hands but missed the shot that would have sent things to overtime.
Scoring 76 points and boasting the nation’s best defense will win you a lot of games. But, to put things simply, inconsistent defense and lack of rebounding late squandered their chances for a one seed. Now the Vols must move forward with a two seed still in play.
Tennessee concludes its season in the friendly confines of Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center against bottom feeder South Carolina. It should be an easy win, but in this conference there are no guarantees.
The game is set for 2 PM ET on SEC network. The SEC tournament begins next week in Nashville.
