Vols survive scare against Gamecocks
March 14, 2008
While Alabama rested Friday afternoon before its meeting with Mississippi State, the SEC Tournament rolled on with a pair of first-rate games.
It wasn’t easy, but Tennessee, the regular season champion, won for the first time in this tournament since 2005. The Vols survived a gutty effort South Carolina and edged the Gamecocks 89-87. Chris Lofton, who had shot just 1-for-9 from 3-point range, buried a wide-open three with 11 seconds remaining.
The lead changed four times in the final minute. Dominique Archie’s jam put the Gamecocks up 85-84 with 51 seconds to play. Tennessee’s Tyler Smith, who scored 11 straight for the Vols, finished that streak with a layup with 37 seconds left. Carolina’s Archie made a layup at the 23-second mark.
Then Lofton, who scored just 10 points, came off a backscreen set by Wayne Chism and coolly buried the 3-pointer with 12 seconds left.
“There’s several options on every play,” Vols coach Bruce Pearl said. “Chris was going to get the ball. JaJuan (Smith) was the first option ... but Chris was going to get that touch.”
Devan Downey missed a 3-pointer for the Gamecocks, who couldn’t get another shot off an inbounds play with 1.4 seconds remaining.
“I wanted to go for the kill. I wanted to to beat them,” said Downey, who led Carolina with 26 points. “The shot fell a little short, but it felt good. If I had to do it again, I would take the same shot.”
Instead, it fell to Lofton to save the Vols an embarrassing loss to a team they had blown out twice in the regular season.
“As a shooter, you always think the next one is going in,” Lofton said of never hesitating to take the shot despite a subpar performance.
Dave Odom, who had earlier announced his retirement effective at the end of the season, had hoped his career wouldn’t end Friday.
“I could be happier had we won, but I don’t know that I could be any prouder,” Odom said. “Tennessee is the odds-on favorite. They’re close to a double-digit favorite over anybody they play. Today will help them. They were close to losing today, and that will get their attention.”
Pearl said that South Carolina “gave us everything we wanted tonight.” But he also noted his team’s offensive production overcame its defensive lapses.
“Don’t be too hard on the Vols,” Pearl said. “We shot 57 percent. We had 35 field goals and had 27 assists.”
The Vols reached the semifinals for the first time since 1991.
