Worst basketball losses you remember?

#101
#101
1989 loss versus WVa was very disappointing. Devoe made it to the NCAAT in his first 5 seasons. Then he missed the next 5. 1988-89 was his 11th season and made it back. And then he went one-and-done versus West Virginia. It was Dyron Nix’s final game. Dyron never won an NCAAT game.

Then Tennessee missed the next 8 tournaments. Dickey nearly killed off TN basketball.
 
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#102
#102
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this one....UCLA in Atlanta during the Ernie and Bernie years. Coach Wooden had retired a year or two before, so I guess is was the 76-77 season. I remember meeting a group of teen friends at a local pizza place on a Sunday afternoon and leaving in sad fashion. Someone asked earlier in this thread "who wants to remember losses?". Well, some losses are just never forgotten.
 
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#103
#103
Pie Jones said:
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this one....UCLA in Atlanta during the Ernie and Bernie years. Coach Wooden had retired a year or two before, so I guess is was the 76-77 season. I remember meeting a group of teen friends at a local pizza place on a Sunday afternoon and leaving in sad fashion. Someone asked earlier in this thread "who wants to remember losses?". Well, some losses are just never forgotten.
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UCLA had 9 players on that roster that signed NBA contracts. Marques Johnson and David Greenwood were beasts. It seems like both King and Grunfeld fouled out of that game and Michael Jackson was TN’s only offensive threat at that end. Reggie Johnson was still a youngster. Darden was a pass first PG.
 
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#104
#104
feathersax said:
That loss still grinds my groin. :mad:
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Me too. I can't imagine if Grant Williams hadn't made 23 free throws in a row to get the next one like it to OT for the win. Had they done that x2 after we go #1 ... we would never have heard the end of it.
Although that 1st #1 ranking loss was to an extremely good Stalling team that was basically equal to us that yr.
 
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#105
#105
livefaith said:
Me too. I can't imagine if Grant Williams hadn't made 23 free throws in a row to get the next one like it to OT for the win. Had they done that x2 after we go #1 ... we would never have heard the end of it.
Although that 1st #1 ranking loss was to an extremely good Stalling team that was basically equal to us that yr.
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Shan Foster was perfect for the Stallings system. I hate/love Foster. Dude played the game right. Just an all around solid guy. JJJ can’t = his 3 point shooting. But I think he can be our Foster this season.
 
#106
#106
whobethis16 said:
It was not an over the back, it was a charge call.

Regarding you thinking the ref shouldn't make a call in the last seconds, if a ref is too scared to make a call then, he shouldn't make the call in the first 38 mins. You can argue whether the call was correct, but saying it shouldn't be called just because the amount of time on the clock is ludicrous.
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It was a stupid play by us. We had 2 NBA-caliber swing men, either one of whom OBVIOUSLY should have gotten the ball in that situation. You throw it in to a player who can dribble, make a move and shoot, or get to the rim, or draw a foul. Instead, we throw it in to a big power forward who's stuck along the baseline. Dumb.

The Purdue loss was brutal after the comeback. We had the game won and our guard stupidly makes contact with a guy who is practically falling out of bounds as he's shooting. Sketchy call for Vol fans--but there was no need to make contact at all.
 
#107
#107
turbovol said:
It was a stupid play by us. We had 2 NBA-caliber swing men, either one of whom OBVIOUSLY should have gotten the ball in that situation. You throw it in to a player who can dribble, make a move and shoot, or get to the rim, or draw a foul. Instead, we throw it in to a big power forward who's stuck along the baseline. Dumb.

The Purdue loss was brutal after the comeback. We had the game won and our guard stupidly makes contact with a guy who is practically falling out of bounds as he's shooting. Sketchy call for Vol fans--but there was no need to make contact at all.
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Yea, there was no need to allow that guy to kick you when challenging his shot?
 
#109
#109
turbovol said:
It was a stupid play by us. We had 2 NBA-caliber swing men, either one of whom OBVIOUSLY should have gotten the ball in that situation. You throw it in to a player who can dribble, make a move and shoot, or get to the rim, or draw a foul. Instead, we throw it in to a big power forward who's stuck along the baseline. Dumb.

The Purdue loss was brutal after the comeback. We had the game won and our guard stupidly makes contact with a guy who is practically falling out of bounds as he's shooting. Sketchy call for Vol fans--but because there was no need to make contact at all, except that which was initiated by Edwards.
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FIFY :)
 
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#110
#110
Being in the building when Meeks went off for 54 in TBA sucked. But yeah, the tourney losses hurt the most. In particular the loss to OSU where were up big at the half. The loss to WSU coming off that buzzer beater against Winthrop was tough to take as well.
 
#112
#112
turbovol said:
It was a stupid play by us. We had 2 NBA-caliber swing men, either one of whom OBVIOUSLY should have gotten the ball in that situation. You throw it in to a player who can dribble, make a move and shoot, or get to the rim, or draw a foul. Instead, we throw it in to a big power forward who's stuck along the baseline. Dumb.

The Purdue loss was brutal after the comeback. We had the game won and our guard stupidly makes contact with a guy who is practically falling out of bounds as he's shooting. Sketchy call for Vol fans--but there was no need to make contact at all.
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You're right, there was no need to make contact by the Purdue player who stuck his leg out and initiated the contact. It wasn't a sketchy call, it was a bulls*** one.
 
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#114
#114
VolsSportsFan said:


You're right, there was no need to make contact by the Purdue player who stuck his leg out and initiated the contact. It wasn't a sketchy call, it was a bulls*** one.
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Our guy left the floor and fell forward--and, yea, it looked like he barely avoided contact, and yea, I agree it was a bad call--but there was no need to leave the floor given where the guy was shooting from. Don't give a ref the opportunity to make a call. Since time began coaches have screamed at their team in that situation: "Don't foul!" And what they are also implying is, "don't give an official a chance to call a foul." There was no need for him to jump forward at the shooter like he did, given that the Purdue guy was practically out of bounds. Play it safe. He didn't, and we lost.
 
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#115
#115
I was upset at the loss to Maryland in the 1980 ncaa tournament. I thought we were jobbed by an ACC centric officiating crew. I thought we were clearly the better team, but the refs were flagging Reggie Johnson for tick-tack fouls, they took him out of the game, and we lost. I've never really gotton over it.

The loss to Mich in last year's tourney still stings, too. Again, we were the better team, but couldn't get the W.
 
#116
#116
turbovol said:
Our guy left the floor and fell forward--and, yea, it looked like he barely avoided contact, and yea, I agree it was a bad call--but there was no need to leave the floor given where the guy was shooting from. Don't give a ref the opportunity to make a call. Since time began coaches have screamed at their team in that situation: "Don't foul!" And what they are also implying is, "don't give an official a chance to call a foul." There was no need for him to jump forward at the shooter like he did, given that the Purdue guy was practically out of bounds. Play it safe. He didn't, and we lost.
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If he hadn't have defended him and he drained the 3, you'd be talking about how stupid it was he didn't try to defend the 3. A bad call is a bad call and it's time to stop bailing out terrible officiating by victim blaming the player. Yes the coach screams don't foul.....and we didn't. Saying "don't give an official a chance to call a foul" is a bit silly there because by that logic you don't need to be anywhere near him. Also coaches mean that in situations like you're up 4 and they shoot a 3....let it go. When you're up 2 and they shoot a 3 that will beat you, not defending is idiotic.

Stop bending over backwards to defend a s*** call.
 
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#117
#117
Blowing the 49-32 halftime lead to Ohio State in 2007 is hard to top. We had already blown a lead to them once that season.

Off topic ... what an NBA bust Greg Oden turned out to be. Portland drafted him ahead of Kevin Durant.
 
#118
#118
BowlBrother85 said:
Blowing the 49-32 halftime lead to Ohio State in 2007 is hard to top. We had already blown a lead to them once that season.

Off topic ... what an NBA bust Greg Oden turned out to be. Portland drafted him ahead of Kevin Durant.
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Hard for me to consider him a bust. His body let him down. When he was healthy he played quite well. Definitely wasn't going to have an all-time career like KD with the way the game was changing but he could've had an all-star worthy career I believe.
 
#119
#119
JelloPuddinPup said:
Hard for me to consider him a bust. His body let him down. When he was healthy he played quite well. Definitely wasn't going to have an all-time career like KD with the way the game was changing but he could've had an all-star worthy career I believe.
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Reminds me of Sam Bowie - great talents but their bodies couldn’t take the pounding
 
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#121
#121
BristolVol said:
Without doubt for me would be VMI in 76'.
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That was a very good VMI team though (Elite 8) and Ron Carter was on fire. King missed that game with an injury. Grunfeld scored 36 (13 of 23). The rest of the team scored 39 (16 of 39). VMI out-rebounded TN 32 to 23. TN only had 12 turnovers to VMI’s 22. The difference was VMI shooting 66% while TN was 46.8%. Mike Jackson and Austin Clark (starting for King) both fouled out in the final minute. No telling how long they played with 4 fouls. Ashworth only had 3 rebounds - half of his season average. Bernard averaged 13 rebounds/game that year. Disappointing loss none-the-less. Sure would have been a different story had King been on the court.
 
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#123
#123
CAVPUT said:
X2. That game just devastated me like no other before or since. Such an incredible amount of talent on that team.
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I was sure that was a final four team. I think that King, Grunfeld, and Jackson were best trio ever on a single Vols team.
 
#125
#125
esarmstrong said:
1993 vs Kentucky: 101-40 in Lexington in the SEC tournament. What a way for Wade Houston's career to end in Knoxville.
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Was it really that long ago?! That (Houston) stretch was the beginning of a lot of apathy on my part toward UT basketball. I actually enjoyed watching the O'neill rebuild (to some extent), but the next 8 years was not much fun for me at all.

Back to the game...Yes, that was THE low point for Tennessee basketball for me.
 
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