Tennessee tops No. 1 Gonzaga on late 3-pointer
PHOENIX — Tennessee lost the reigning SEC player of the year down the stretch against the nation’s topranked team.
The Vols still had the Admiral to lead them.
Admiral Schofield hit a 3pointer with 24 seconds left and scored 25 of his 30 points in the second half, helping No. 7 Tennessee knock off topranked Gonzaga, 76-73, Sunday in the Colangelo Classic.
“Our team really executed in the second half,” Schofield said. “A lot of good looks for a lot of guys and anyone could have knocked down those shots, we have so many talented people on this team.”
Tennessee (7-1) jumped on Gonzaga early and fought back from a nine-point, second-half deficit.
Reigning SEC player of the year Grant Williams fouled out with 2:30 left, but the Vols went up two when Schofield banked in a 3-pointer with 80 seconds left.
After Rui Hachimura tied it with two free throws, Schofield hit a long 3 and Tennessee held on for its first win over a No. 1 team — fifth overall — since beating Kansas in 2010.
“We knew it would have a March kind of feel to it,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, who moved into a tie with Gary Williams for 25th in Division I with 668 victories. “When you play against a No. 1 team, you’re going to play 40 minutes and we probably did that better today that we had any other game this season.”
Gonzaga (9-1) had two shots at a tying 3-pointer, but Zach Norvell Jr. and Hachimura missed.
Hachimura and Brandon Clarke had 21 points each for the Bulldogs.
“It was heck of a basketball game,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “We just ended up on the short end. They made the plays down the stretch and we didn’t.”
The Zags passed every previous test despite playing without injured forward Kevin Tillie.
Gonzaga blew out Texas A&M in Spokane, then knocked off Illinois, Arizona and then-top-ranked Duke to win the Maui Invitational. The Bulldogs beat Washington in their last game on Hachimura’s last-second jumper.
Tennessee, a popular preseason Final Four pick, took No. 2 Kansas to overtime before losing and beat Louisville by 11 in its closest win of the season.
Barnes had never beaten a top-ranked team in his 31-year coaching career that included stops at George Mason, Providence, Clemson, Texas and Tennessee.