Vols given preview of battles that await them

KNOXVILLE — If the Tennessee Volunteers didn’t realize things wouldn’t be easier as the No. 1-ranked men’s basketball team in the country, they got quite the introduction Wednesday night.

Vanderbilt took the Vols into overtime in Nashville before the visitors, led by a dominant performance from junior forward Grant Williams, won 88-83 to improve to 17-1 for the season and 6-0 in the Southeastern Conference.

In some ways the Commodores played above their heads. They entered the game averaging 7.8 3-pointers but were 10-for-21 on the long shots Wednesday. Some of that could be attributed to playing a top-ranked team at home in hopes of pulling off the upset, but Vanderbilt had hit at least 10 3s in a game three times prior to Wednesday, including making 15 against Savannah State on Nov. 27, four days after losing star point guard Darius Garland to injury.

Also, it was Vanderbilt’s penetration that set up some of those looks, most of which were wide open.

It’s what helped the Commodores hold a 76-70 lead with 1:22 to play. And that’s when the Vols’ experience took over. Williams was fouled going up for a rebound, a foul that was upgraded to a flagrant. He hit the two free throws, then followed with a layup. Admiral

Schofield then hit what was the game-tying shot, a runner in the lane to force overtime.

In that stretch, Vanderbilt had three turnovers and a missed shot.

“Each game is a chance to get better,” Williams said. “We have to learn from this game, learn from what they did and we didn’t do right, what we did do right and what we can get better.”

After the game, coach Rick Barnes said having players who have been in those situations for a few years has made his team ready once they arise.

“Two years ago, we were struggling with every single basket,” he said. “We knew it wasn’t a game of perfect, but you felt like you had to play perfect to win some games. At home you were hoping you could win because of the crowd — and I appreciate the crowd we had here tonight. But we’ve been in a lot of situations.

“I think our nonleague schedule through the years has helped us. I think now that our guys realize we’re going to be in these types of games. And this is what we were used to a year ago . ... This is what we dealt with all the way down the stretch last year. We’ve been in some this year; we’ll continue to be in them.”

The biggest thing the Vols learned was something they theoretically knew beforehand. Every game from here on out, continuing Saturday at home against West Virginia (9-10) in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, will be a war.

And the Vols are going to have to be up to every challenge. “We know that everybody’s going to give you their all,” point guard Jordan Bone said. “I feel like this is the best Vandy has played all season, and we have to expect that from every single team. Each team is going to play super hard, and we have to know that. We have to know it’s going to be a dogfight every single night, and we just have to continue to get better through this process.”