Tennessee Basketball: Vols get ugly win, move onto semifinals

The Tennessee Volunteers picked up an ugly win last night against Mississippi State, putting the Vols in the semifinals against Arkansas.

The Tennessee Volunteers won an ugly game last night against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. It was the second time the Volunteers had played the Bulldogs in the last two weeks, although this game was much different from the first game. Tennessee was able to sneak out a tough win, winning 62-59.

The Volunteers took a 31-24 point lead into halftime, but the Bulldogs were able to make clutch shots down the stretch to tighten the game up and make for a thrilling finish.

There was a scary moment early in the 2nd half when Nick Weatherspoon went down in front of Mississippi State’s basket and stayed down, all while play was still going on. Mississippi State then stole the ball and went on a fast break, when Kyle Alexander had a chase down block but had his foot land on Weatherspoon’s face. Weatherspoon had to be taken off on a stretcher.

It was a scary situation but never should’ve happened. The officials should’ve stopped the game as soon as he landed and was injured. It is yet another unacceptable situation that has happened under SEC officials and is something that needs to be fixed.

The end of the game was very thrilling. The Volunteers had chances throughout the 2nd half to break away, as they would get an eight or nine-point lead, but Lamar Peters of Mississippi State would come down and make a clutch three-pointer to put the Bulldogs right back into things.

The Volunteers had a few chances to increase their lead and ice the game, but missed a few free throws. The Bulldogs cut the lead to two with 41 seconds left, but that was as close as it got. Admiral Schofield shot a questionable three-pointer with seven seconds left on the shot clock but was bailed out as the Bulldogs missed a three-pointer to win the game. Jordan Bone made one out of two free throws, as the Volunteers escaped with a 62-59 win.

Lamonte Turner led the Volunteers in scoring with 15 points. Turner made a few clutch jumpers down the stretch to help the Volunteers escape with a victory. Grant Williams had his first double-double of the year, as he had 10 points and 11 rebounds. With the impressive year that Williams has had, it’s hard to believe that performance was his first double-double of the year. Schofield had 13 points and eight rebounds.

The Volunteers had a difficult time stopping Quinndary Weatherspoon and Peters. Weatherspoon had 17 points for the Bulldogs, while Peters lead all scorers with 22 points, on 5-8 shooting from the three-point line.

The Volunteers advance to the semifinals, as they take on the Arkansas Razorbacks later today. The Razorbacks got the better of the Volunteers, as they won at home against Tennessee earlier in the year. The winner of this game will head to the SEC championship on Sunday at noon.