Tennessee defeats Vanderbilt in overtime
Williams stars, Vols survive OT
NASHVILLE — With every reason in the world for the Tennessee men’s basketball team to lose Wednesday night, Grant Williams refused to let that happen.
The junior forward poured in a careerhigh 43 points, with 35 coming in the second half and overtime, and the Vols survived their first test as the top-ranked team in the country by beating Vanderbilt 88-83 in front of 14,316 at Memorial Gymnasium.
The Vols (17-1, 6-0 Southeastern Conference), who return to competition Saturday by hosting West Virginia in the Big 12/ SEC challenge, won Wednesday despite shooting 47 percent from the field. They won despite Admiral Schofield, the team’s second-leading scorer this season, being held to six points on 2-for-9 shooting and missing all six of his 3-point attempts. They won despite trailing by six with less than 90 seconds to play in regulation.
A big reason they won was because of Williams, who was 10-for-15 from the floor and made all 23 of his free throws, setting a Tennessee record for most consecutive in a game. He also became the first Vol to top 40 points since Allan Houston had 42 against LSU in 1990. Jordan Bone added 14 points and seven assists with no turnovers in 36 minutes in a return to his hometown, with Jordan Bowden following up with nine points.
In the second half and overtime alone, Williams was 8-for10 from the field and 21-for-21 at the foul line. He also added eight rebounds and four blocks in the game.
“I have no words,” Bone said of Williams. “Tonight he was incredible. He was amazing. He dominated this game and led us to this win for sure. When Grant is hitting free throws, he knows how to get to his spots, he knows how to draw fouls and he was super locked in. He knew what he had to do.”
Williams recently told former Tennessee player Tony White — who is battling leukemia in Nashville and was visited this month by Williams and Vols coach Rick Barnes — that he was going to break White’s single-game scoring record of 51.
“One day,” Williams said. “I didn’t get there, but I wanted to show him some love.”
Tennessee didn’t win as much as it withstood the unranked Commodores (9-9, 0-6), who shot 50 percent from the field and made 10 3-pointers. At times, there were shades of 2008, the last time the Vols were No. 1, when two days after receiving the top ranking they lost at Memorial to the No. 20 Commodores.
Vanderbilt seemed ready to repeat that magic Wednesday, building a 76-70 lead with 1:32 to play in regulation after a pair of Saben Lee free throws. On the next possession, Clevon Brown was called for a flagrant foul on Williams, who promptly knocked down both free throws. Williams then scored on a layup, and two possessions later, Admiral Schofield hit a short runner in the lane to tie the game at 76.
Tennessee had one final shot in regulation, but Williams’ 3-point attempt was blocked. After the game, he admitted the ball should have gone to Schofield.
Williams responded by scoring the first 10 points in overtime, with his traditional threepoint play with 31 seconds to play putting Tennessee ahead for good. He made a pair of free throws with 20 seconds remaining to make it 86-83, and Bone knocked down two more for the final margin.
“I thought Vanderbilt was terrific tonight,” Barnes said. “I have a lot of respect for coach (Bryce) Drew. They made a lot of shots, and I give them credit for all of it. They fought hard, played their hearts out.”
The Commodores gave the first lesson in what life at the top might be like for the Vols.
“We are where we are; that’s the bed you made, and you’ve got to understand you’re going to get your best shot from a lot of people every single night,” Barnes said. “We found a way — we weren’t perfect — but we found a way to make some plays.”
Aaron Nesmith led the Commodores with 24 points, Lee finished with 21, Matt Ryan had 12 and Simisola Shittu added 10.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.