NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Bruce Pearl celebrated his 200th game at Tennessee with a victory and a few kisses to supportive Volunteer fans as he left the court at Memorial Gym.
Finally, his Vols showed they could close out a close game, and at the free throw line no less.
Scotty Hopson scored 19 points, and Tennessee rallied from 11 points down in the second half to upset No. 18 Vanderbilt 60-51 on Tuesday night and sweep the season series from its in-state rival.
Reports swirled Tuesday night that Tennessee expects to receive official notice of allegations from the NCAA this week. Asked if he got a little emotional at the end of the game, Pearl said he was looking for his wife and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, not necessarily in that order.
“All of a sudden, I look up and all of our fans still stuck around,” Pearl said. “That’s what makes it such a rivalry. ... We finally gave our fans something. We put our fans through a lot this year on and off the court, and so it was good to reward them a little bit for staying with us.”
Tennessee (17-11, 7-6 SEC) has won two of its past three, and this time the Vols won by hitting their free throws when it mattered most. Hopson hit all six of his attempts as Tennessee, which hit only threeof its first nine from the line, hit 11 of 12 over the final 2:52.
This is the team that couldn’t hit a free throw late in losing 61-60 at Florida and couldn’t rally in losing last weekend to Georgia.
“Today we never gave up,” Tennessee senior guard Melvin Goins said. “We always believed.”
The Vols played some stingy defense, holding Vanderbilt to the fewest points ever scored against Tennessee in Memorial Gym and the fewest scored against the Vols in a home game since the Commodores won 50-44 on Jan. 28, 1950. It’s the fewest points the Commodores have scored overall in Memorial since beating Georgia 50-40 on Jan. 14, 2009.
Vanderbilt came in averaging 77.6 points per game this season.
Goins scored 15 points, and Tobias Harris had 10 for the Vols, who got sweet revenge after being swept by the Commodores last season.
“That kind of sticks with you in the offseason a little bit,” said Pearl, who wore his orange blazer in honor of this heated rivalry. “I know it makes a difference to our fans.”
The Commodores (20-7, 8-5) snapped a five-game winning streak. John Jenkins, the SEC’s leading scorer, had 11 points for Vanderbilt, two in the second half. Festus Ezeli had 11 points before fouling out, and Steve Tchiengang, who fouled out, scored all of his 10 points in the first half.
“We had nine fouls on our two 5 men in the second half,” Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings said. “That’s ridiculous. We didn’t play with focus, with aggressiveness, we got outfought and that’s why we got beat.”
NO. 2 OHIO STATE 89, ILLINOIS 70
COLUMBUS, Ohio - David Lighty scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half and William Buford had all 17 of his in the first to lead No. 2 Ohio State past Illinois.
Jared Sullinger 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Buckeyes (26-2, 13-2 Big Ten), who had lost two of three after winning their first 25 games.
Mike Davis scored 18 points and Demetri McCamey had 15 points and six assists.
Ohio State shot 53 percent from the field to end Illinois’ string of 37 consecutive games holding an opponent under 50 percent.
NO. 5 TEXAS 76, IOWA ST. 53
AUSTIN, Texas - Jordan Hamilton broke out of a two-game shooting slump with 20 points and No. 5 Texas rebounded from its first loss in a month.
Tristan Thompson shook off an early flub when he tipped the ball into the wrong basket to finish with 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Longhorns (24-4, 12-1 Big 12). Hamilton and Thompson keyed a big Texas run at the start of the second half that put the game away.
Texas had won 11 consecutive to grab first place in the Big 12 before losing at Nebraska last weekend.
Diante Garrett scored 16 points to lead the Cyclones (14-14, 1-12), who lost their 10th consecutive overall and seventh in a row to Texas.
NO. 16 LOUISVILLE 55, RUTGERS 37
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Preston Knowles hit 3 three-pointers in a game-opening 17-2 run for No. 16 Louisville.
The Cardinals (21-7, 10-5 Big East) hit six of their first nine shots from long range in opening a 19-point first-half lead and handing Rutgers (13-14, 4-11) its third consecutive loss and seventh in eight games.
Knowles finished with 14 points and eight rebounds and Kyle Kuric added 11 points for Louisville, which held Rutgers to a season-low point total in its second best defensive performance of the season.
Gilvydas Biruta had 12 points to lead the Scarlet Knights, who made 13 field goals in shooting a season-low 29.5 percent. The 37 points were the fewest for Rutgers since it had that many in a 2007 loss to DePaul.
Louisville’s previous opponent low this season was 35 against San Francisco.
NO. 25 XAVIER 100, LA SALLE 62
CINCINNATI - Jeff Robinson scored a career-high 22 points in his first start in 19 games and No. 25 Xavier rolled past La Salle.
Tu Holloway set a career high with 15 assists to go with 12 points and 9 rebounds before leaving with 2:36 left in the game, and Mark Lyons scored 15 points, Jamel McLean had 12 and Kenny Frease and Jay Canty each finished with 10 for the Musketeers (21-6, 12-1), who have won six consecutive and 13 of 14. Xavier extended its record streak of conference home victories to 39.
Tyreek Duren scored 18 points to lead the Explorers (12-16, 4-9), who have lost three consecutive and four oftheir past five.
SEC MEN SOUTH CAROLINA 79, MISSISSIPPI 73
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Sam Muldrow had 23 points, including the go-ahead threepointer with 1:02 left, as South Carolina snapped a five-game losing streak.
Muldrow’s points tied his career high and he added 10 rebounds to help the Gamecocks (14-12, 5-8 SEC) build a 69-55 lead with six minutes left.
That’s when Ole Miss (17-11, 5-8)went on an 18-4 run, tying the game at 73 on Zach Graham’s layup with 1:21 to go.
Muldrow answered back for South Carolina, striking for his third threepointer of the game.
Graham missed a tying three-pointer on Ole Miss’ next trip and the Gamecocks closed out their first home victory since Jan. 19 with three free throws.
Mississippi’s Chris Warren had a career-high 33 points off eight threepointers, also the best showing of the senior’s career.
Sports, Pages 22 on 02/23/2011