James sparks Vols with three-pointers
SEC TOURNAMENT
NO. 17 TENNESSEE 70, MISSISSIPPI 55
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Josiah-Jordan James had gamehighs of 20 points and seven rebounds, leading No. 17 Tennessee past Mississippi 70-55 on Thursday in the second round of the SEC Tournament.
The fifth-seeded Volunteers (23-9) will play No. 4 seed Missouri in the quarterfinals today.
“The start of this game they were relaxed and really making some shots,” Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes said. “We got a little bit slow getting going. But I thought the second half we were able to pick up our intensity.”
James made four three-pointers, including a shot on the Vols’ first possession of the game. His three-pointer from the corner with 5 seconds left in the first half gave Tennessee a 39-33 lead at the break.
“Tennessee had the momentum going into the second half,” interim Mississippi Coach Win Case said. “That last three-point shot by Jordan James was very tough for us to end the first half. I felt like they had the momentum going into the second half because of that three-point shot.”
The Vols led 52-48 with 111/2 minutes left before increasing the margin to 64-50 on Julian Phillips’ two free throws with 71/2 minutes to go.
Santiago Vescovi added 15 points for the Vols.
Myles Burns scored 14 points and also had three steals for Mississippi (12-21). Jae Brakefield and Murrell each had 12 points.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 69, FLORIDA 68, OT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tolu Smith scored a career-high 28 points, including a go-ahead basket in overtime with 4.3 seconds left, and Mississippi State beat Florida.
Mississippi State (21-11) advances to play top-seeded Alabama in today’s quarterfinals.
Smith started overtime with a threepoint play and Cameron Matthews dunked it on Mississippi State’s next possession. Dashawn Davis had his second consecutive assist that led to a dunk when he lobbed it for Shawn Jones Jr. for a highlight finish and a 6459 lead. Florida missed a three-pointer and Smith extended the lead to seven points with a shot in the lane, off another assist by Davis.
Florida freshman Riley Kugel made a three-pointer with 37.1 seconds left to pull within 67-64 and Mississippi State turned it over near midcourt before Kugel was fouled on a drive. Kugel made two free throws, the Bulldogs turned it over again and Niels Lane scored with 11.8 left to give Florida a 68-67 lead.
Mississippi State elected not to call a timeout and Davis drove the lane to find Smith open for a basket. The Bulldogs called a timeout to set up their defense. Florida guard Myreon Jones inbounded it and got it back but his long three-pointer was off the mark at the buzzer.
Shakeel Moore scored 12 points of his 13 points in the first half for Mississippi State. Davis added nine rebounds and eight assists. Smith also grabbed 12 rebounds.
Kugel finished with 14 points for Florida (16-16). Jones was held scoreless in the first half and finished with 11 points. Kowacie Reeves also scored 11 points.
Florida scored the final six points of regulation on three-pointers by Jones, who had a chance to win it at the buzzer but his three-pointer came up short.
VANDERBILT 77, LSU 68
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tyrin Lawrence had 22 points, Jordan Wright scored 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Vanderbilt rolled to a victory over LSU.
Ezra Manjon scored seven points during a 12-0 run that stretched Vanderbilt’s lead to 49-36 with 14:01 to play, and they led by double digits nearly the rest of the way.
No. 6 seed Vanderbilt (19-13), which has won four in a row and 9 of its past 10 games, will face third-seeded Kentucky in a quarterfinal today.
Lawrence was 6-of-7 shooting from the floor and made 9 of 11 free throws. Manjon finished with 17 points and Paul Lewis scored 11.
KJ Williams scored 16 of his 26 points in the second half to lead No. 14 seed LSU (14-19), which shot 33% (23 of 69) from the floor but matched Vanderbilt in rebounds with 42.
The Commodores never trailed and built a 14-point lead midway through the first half before LSU cut the deficit to 37-29 at the break. Lawrence had 14 points in the first half. LSU scored the first seven points of the second half to pull to 37-36.