Here’s how close it was: Tennessee was trailing by one point, 17 seconds to go when sick and tired but still determined Santiago Vescovi got quick hands on a Texas A&M in-bounds pass.
For an instant, it looked like the Volunteers might out-tough the gritty Aggies. Didn’t happen.
Wade Taylor IV reclaimed the ball. Vescovi went down, got a piece of Taylor and was whistled for a foul. Taylor hit two more penalty shots.
When the fouling and free throwing was finished, Texas A&M had won, 68-63. The Aggies did what they have been doing all season, go for the goal, draw fouls, hit free throws and win. They are best in the country at this artistry.
They made 28 of 34. Tennessee was 10 of 14. The Vols were charged with 24 fouls.
The Vols’ consolation prize was a clear conscience. They played hard, gave good effort and traded blows in a heavyweight fight.
There isn’t much question that the Aggies are the second-best team in the Southeastern Conference – behind Alabama. They are 13-2. Tennessee, going down and down some more, is 9-6.
Not long ago, the Vols were No. 2 in the country. Give that some thought.
Rick Barnes sounded oh, so proud of his team for really trying. He was a wee bit testy when reminded that his team has lost four in a row on the road and five of seven overall.
Wade did it to the Vols. The sophomore guard scored 25. He went 16 of 17 from the foul line.
“Well, that’s Wade,” coaches and teammates said with a smile and head shake that said even more.
Julius Marble missed four free throws but scored 21.
Vescovi missed Monday practice with illness but insisted he was good enough to go in the game. His 10 rebounds gave him another double-double. He had seven assists and three steals.
Zakai Zeigler also scored 14. Neither shot with great accuracy. Santiago was 5-for-13 and Ziggy 6-for-17. Olivier Nkamhoua added 13 points. Tobe Awaka scored 10.
Jonas Aidoo had early foul trouble, played 16 minutes, contributed six points and five rebounds and fouled out. Tobe Awaka played 26 minutes, missed only one shot, had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Tyreke Key is wrestling with a dilemma. Barnes tells him to shoot. He was 1-for-7.
Tennessee got off to a good start (9-0). The half ended at 31-31. The Aggies took advantage of Vol errors but Vescovi stopped a 10-0 A&M run. The last six minutes were close.
“Really proud of the effort from the guys. They fought,” said Barnes.
The coach fretted over being short-handed. Josiah-Jordan James and Julian Phillips didn’t play.
“I have to believe they are doing everything they can to get back. I believe that with all my heart because they’re competitive. They want to play. No one is working any harder than what (trainer) Chad (Newman) and (strength coach) Garrett (Medenwald) are to get them back.
“We don’t want them to play unless they’re healthy.
“We needed Jonas out there. I think Olivier played the most minutes he’s played since he’s been at Tennessee. Tobe, I thought, did some really good things. A lot of guys did. We fought.”
Barnes did some serious coaching.
“I’ll tell you what I told the team. We’ve just got to stop fouling 3-point shooters. We keep talking about it, talking about it, talking about it. We have a competitive group of guys, but they’ve got to understand they’re not going to keep players from getting the shot off.
“Plays like that have to stop. I mean, we gave them five points right there. And they’re a team that gets to the foul line anyway. We’ve got to stop making those plays. We’ve got to stop.”
Barnes said the Vols are disappointed.
“We all are because we felt with the guys we had available to play, they came into the game with a great attitude, knowing that we could play good basketball and put ourselves in a position to win. We did. We just didn’t close it out at the end.”
Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com.