Tennessee (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 9 AP) finished up its four game home stand on Saturday, defeating Ole Miss (No. 23 ESPN/USA Today, No. 21 AP) 71-69 in overtime.
The Vols, with only six scholarship players, took the floor for the second time in less than 48 hours.
Josh Bone and Kenny Hall combined to give the Vols 48 desperately needed minutes off the bench. Bone’s defense was crucial in the second half, shutting down Ole Miss point guard Chris Warren, who led the Rebles with 19 points.
“Warren had a nice game offensively shooting the ball,” Pearl said after the game. “He’s a scary shooter but a shooter but he had one assist and five turnovers. As a point guard, that’s not what they are looking for.”
Pearl said it was clear early on that Bobby Maze was too fatigued to defend Warren and calling on Josh Bone was an easy decision.
“Bobby did not have his legs,” Pearl said. “He was not recovered from the other night. As soon as I saw that, it was a no brainer. You had to have somebody out there because you had to guard Warren and Bobby just could not guard. Hopefully he will find a way to get the kind of rest that he needs.”
Wayne Chism had a monstrous game. The senior hit two crucial three-point baskets and made six consecutive free throws in overtime to seal the deal for Tennessee. Chism finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds in 41 minutes.
Pearl taked about Chism after the game.
“The bottom line was there was a lot of great players on the floor and some good players on the floor, but Wayne Chism was by far the best player on the floor and that’s why we won the ballgame,” Pearl said.
J.P. Prince added 13 points and 8 assists, but also committed 6 turnovers — at least a couple coming at crucial times during the game.
“J.P. Prince almost had a quardruple-double,” Pearl said. “He was four turnovers away from ten. He was two assists away from ten. And he was two points away from ten. He is a stat stuffer.”
While several players contributed big in Saturday’s win, a bit of scouting by the coaching staff also contributed to the outcome.
“We played 7 or 8 huge possessions of zone,” Pearl said. “It got them standing around a little bit just like their zone got us standing around. I saw them struggle against zone against MIssissippi State at home just two games ago. I just knew if we put some zone up at a crucial time or two it might disrupt them. I don’t know that they scored against it in the 7 or 8 possessions that we played it.”
Goins and Tatum set to rejoin team tomorrow
Melvin Goins and Cam Tatum are expected to return to practice tomorrow after being indefinitely suspended for their role in the incident on New Years Day. However, Bruce Pearl is being cautious in dealing with their return and their roles aren’t expected to be the same as before the suspension.
“I don’t see this as being a disruption,” Pearl said. “I don’t want to go on the road now and be in a situation where if we don’t win every game it’s because ‘aw, you brought those guys back’. That will have nothing to do with it, it will have to do with the opponent.”
Brian Williams will stay suspended. He is expected to serve a longer penalty because of his involvement in the incident.