Rare defensive breakdown sinks Vols in buzzer-beating loss at Vanderbilt
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It's called "Memorial Magic" – and Vanderbilt needed it Wednesday night.
Like so many times before, it looked like Tennessee was going to do what it's managed to do against its rival from the West End in the previous 11 games: survive.
Santiago Vescovi hit two clutch 3-pointers in the last four minutes to draw even. Then Olivier Nkamhoua appeared to have provided the dagger with a free throw line jumper for the lead with 50 seconds left.
Tennessee was on the verge of escape, a 20th win and second-place tie in the SEC standings.
Then the magic happened – the kind that the Vols would like to forget.
Vescovi missed a rare free throw that would have at least put the Vols up three. Vanderbilt grabbed the rebound, called the timeout and drew up the final play. It eventually went to Tyrin Lawrence in the corner.
His 3-point shot fell through as time expired and Vanderbilt won, 66-65, at Memorial Gymnasium.
"The one thing we said is that we can't give up a 3-point shot," Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. "We felt like they were either going to try and go inside to (Liam Robbins) or they'd get it downhill and we said we've got to make it a tough shot at the rim. Under no circumstances can we give up a 3-point shot – and we did and (Lawrence) made it, so give him credit for it."
Tennessee (19-5, 8-3 SEC) has lost two of its last three conference games.
Vescovi and Tyreke Key paced the Vols with 14 points each, while Nkamhoua and Julian Phillips tallied 10 points apiece.
Tennessee, which struggled offensively in the two games leading into Wednesday, managed to shoot 46.7% from the field and hit seven total 3-pointers, but mistakes down the stretch were too much to overcome.
The Vols suffered too many defensive breakdowns – including on Lawrence's game-winning shot. Tennessee gave up 10 3-pointers and didn't take advantage of easy scoring opportunities, the most glaring of which was Phillips' decision in the closing seconds to dribble the ball out instead of taking an easy basket to extend the lead.
"(Phillips) has got to do that," Barnes said. "I told him, 'You don't turn down a 100% shot.' He's got to do that. He'll learn from it. He's got to do that. With 18 seconds and they've got five fouls they've got to give, they're going to have to foul, so when you get a wide open dunk, you got to get it."
Vanderbilt (12-12, 6-5) matched Tennessee step-for-step for more than 20 minutes in the two teams' first meeting last month in Knoxville before the Vols closed strong in a double-digit win, but unlike that matchup, they couldn't land the final blow.
They were close to it, jumping back in front by five with less than 15 minutes to go, but Vanderbilt used its shooting to hang around and trade the lead up until the final shot.
Vanderbilt shot 43.6% from the field and another 40% from deep. Lawrence led with 19 points, while Liam Robbins scored 14. Robbins entered the game shooting 17% from three but knocked down three in the first half.
Turnovers were costly for Tennessee, too. The Vols committed nine which led to eight crucial points for Vanderbilt.
"(Vanderbilt) made some shots," Barnes said. "They're capable of doing that. They obviously wanted to play a possession game. Every time they're down on the floor, they were getting deep into the clock and executing. They made some shots and we had some unforced, silly turnovers that we can't have from guys that have played a lot of minutes from us that when we get a chance to get some separation for us. We just can't have the turnovers that we had."
Tennessee has ridden its defense to this point in the season. It isn't often that the Vols have lost a game due to its inability to defend, but Vanderbilt was another rare exception – even on a night where the Vols started to find their shot.
"Overall, I think we can be better," Barnes said. "Those guys fought there at the end. Again, in a game like that, every possession matters. Like I said, you can go back, earlier in the game to some plays, but you can't take anything away from Vanderbilt. ... They kept fighting back in it. They'd get a lead, we'd get a lead. It was a hard-played college basketball game that came down to one possession. They executed on the offensive end. We did not execute on the defensive end."
Tennessee returns to Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday with a bounce-back opportunity against Missouri. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
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