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For Turner, moment was more than a made shot

NASHVILLE — The pundits had their columns written.

Kentucky survived a scare from Tennessee to move to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

But “peanut butter and jelly,” with a slice of Bone bread, had other ideas. The trio scored 15 points, grabbed two rebounds and had three assists in the final 4:19 to rally from seven down to beat Kentucky 82-78.

And then there was Lamonte Turner.

The redshirt junior, buried in a deep shooting slump, had just essentially shot the Vols out of a regular-season SEC title just one week ago.

But Turner, who was 6-for-46 from 3-point land dating back to the Vols' loss at Rupp Arena and was 0-14 versus the ‘Cats, stood wide open from the top of the key with :30 seconds left and his team trailing by one.

‘Cats fans in the Bridgestone Arena held their breath, most Vol fans were screaming, ‘No! No! No! and without a conscience, Turner capped off a 14-4 run over a 2:28 span with a dagger trey that gave Tennessee the lead, a win, and a trip to Sunday’s final in quest of ending a 40 year tournament championship drought.

“He’s very deserving of that moment,” said Admiral Schofield who got the assist on the made shot. “When I saw him open, I couldn’t deny him of it.”

Bone, who had 18 points and five assists and sealed the game at the free throw line, couldn’t have been happier for his backcourt mate.

“How much he deserves it man,” Bone said of his thoughts as the ball tickled the twine.

“He’s been going through it honestly. He’s been going through it. He’s been battling with himself to find his identity as a player. He realized last night that he’s one of the best on ball defenders in the country. He can make passes. He can create off the dribble. He’s not just a shooter. It just goes to show he has so much left in the tank and he just deserves this moment.”

Turner, standing open at the top of the key, was well Turner. Fearless and without hesitation. The moment never too big. The stage never too bright in his mind.

“You have to have extreme confidence,” Turner said.

“I have that and I think that helps me in moments like that. I don’t doubt myself. If I would have missed it then I would have come back in the locker room and we would have moved on from there. I wouldn’t have beaten myself up over it. Whenever you can own up to your mistakes, own up to missing shots or making them, it helps you on down the line to take shots like that.

“I think I’ve been thinking about it too much honestly. I think prior to that last shot I have been thinking too much about my shot. With that last shot, I didn’t think about it. I just let it go. In moments like that, I don’t think about it.”

While the shot was the game winner, Turner didn’t feel like it was his biggest play. The biggest came just over a minute earlier when he forced a steal at mid-court that Grant Williams turned into a baseline triple, cutting UK's lead to one.

“Probably the deflection,” Turner said of what meant more to him. “Defense gets you going more than offense does. I like seeing shots go in, but when you get a stop defensively you feel like you are disrupting their whole offense there’s nothing like it.”

It’s a mentality that Turner was sternly reminded of on Monday in a film session following the Auburn loss that was painful. A session that Barnes said pointed out the bad and the ugly because there was nothing good.

“I just never really knew that I could be that,” Turner said of his defensive ability. “He (Barnes) showed me I could. He challenged me to do it. I gained confidence in myself in being a better defensive player. Once I got the confidence there was really no ever looking back. I have to give the credit to coach Barnes.”

A familiar theme in resurgence of Tennessee basketball. Barnes developing his players. Critical, stern, unwavering in his expectations yet never destroying their confidence.

It’s why Lamonte Turner forced a huge turnover. It’s why he drilled what fans would deem an improbable shot given his slump.

It’s why Tennessee will play for a title Sunday afternoon and it’s why Tennessee has to be in the conversation to be a No. 1 seed.

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