Last week, Tennessee lost a close one at Alabama while John Fulkerson and Kennedy Chandler were in the health and welfare cage.
Last night, the shoe was on the other foot. Ole Miss was short-handed. The Rebels played without leading scorer and point guard Jarkel Joiner because of a back injury. Two others missed after positive virus tests.
The Volunteers, fully aware of how the visitors felt, even the possibility of an inferiority complex disorder, offered a charitable hand – eight or 10 minutes of the worst offensive college basketball in ages, maybe history. I am not old enough to be sure.
Small children should have covered their eyes.
Tennessee served up a baffling mix of 10 missed shots, fouls and turnovers. They eventually scored. Ole Miss had something to do with the delay. The Rebels actually played tougher defense than the Vols. They kept switching from man to zone to 1-3-1 traps, sometimes between bounces of the ball.
The Rebels weren’t all that good on offense but they owned leads of 8-0 and 16-4.
What happened after that was almost as astounding as the start. Tennessee reduced the deficit to 21-19 at halftime. Hard to explain how. The Vols were two of 15 on three-point attempts.
After a few choice words from Rick Barnes at intermission, the Vols were competitive throughout the second half. Two or three times they caught up but could never seize the lead.
Finally, something else amazing happened. The Vols sagged to seven down and looked to be fading but Santiago Vescovi took over the game. He hit a three and added a free throw. Josiah-Jordan James hit a three. Vescovi hit another to tie with 1:10 left.
A strong offensive overtime lifted Tennessee to a 66-60 victory. You probably needed to see it to believe it.
The home team got its first lead 18 seconds into the extra period. Olivier Nkamhoua hit a jumper. Zakai Zeigler dropped a bomb. Vescovi hit again. The ending was the easiest part. Vescovi made free throws.
Tennessee’s defense was almost good enough throughout the game – except on the perimeter. Ole Miss hit 11 of 22 three-point attempts. Tye Fagan nailed five of six and Matthew Murrell four of six.
Ole Miss had 27 turnovers. The Vols repeatedly forced shot-clock violations and even got a rare 10-second backcourt call. They had a season-best 17 steals. Zeigler got five. The visitors missed their point guard.
Vescovi led the Vols with 17 points. Nkamhoua had 13 but missed fewer shots. Chandler was sporadic and error-prone but contributed key plays late. He had six points, seven assists and five turnovers. JJJ finished with 10 points and led the team with eight rebounds.
I got the feeling Barnes didn’t think the offense was as bad as I saw it. He appreciates what Ole Miss can do on defense.
Word of warning: If the Vols play like this at Baton Rouge on Saturday, LSU will win in romp.
Marvin West welcomes reader comments or questions. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com.