As Gomer Pyle used to say, surprise, surprise, surprise.
Tennessee, learning to play without Olivier Nkamhoua, undoubtedly surprised Mississippi State Wednesday night in Starkville.
The Volunteers won, 72-63, with a very impressive finishing run. Even at 61 with three minutes and change remaining, Tennessee applied an 11-2 knockout.
It was the sixth consecutive Southeastern Conference victory and the second in a row on the road for the Volunteers.
“That was a terrific team win,” said Rick Barnes. “I’m proud of everybody.”
Freshman Brandon Huntley-Hatfield took the injured Nkamhoua’s place in the starting lineup and scored the first four points in a 14-2 opening spurt. Freshman Jonas Aidoo played 12 meaningful minutes after playing only 15 for the season. Surprisingly, he looked like he belonged.
Less surprising were 18 points each by Kennedy Chandler and Josiah-Jordan James, a clutch three-pointer from Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler’s finishing touch.
Barnes praised the beginning and the end. He complimented Huntley-Hatfield and Aidoo for their contributions and poise. He even said John Fulkerson played well.
The coach soon abandoned the role of cheerleader and turned back into himself.
“We helped Mississippi State back into the game. We fouled too much.”
As good as the Vols were at the start, they were worse than bad during a cold streak – one of 14 as the Bulldogs caught up. UT led 35-33 at intermission.
Barnes fretted about the slump and started to worry about Vanderbilt coming on Saturday but was distracted by a replay of the overwhelming conclusion.
Chandler broke the 61-61 deadlock with a drive to the rim. Vescovi hit a three from the top of the key. The Bulldogs got a basket but Zeigler drove through tall trees for a layup to make it 68-63.
State was forced to foul. It fouled the wrong Vol. Zeigler hit four free throws as if he had never heard of pressure.
From all appearances, the Vols played well on defense but the Bulldogs hit 50 per cent. That might have been good enough if they hadn’t missed nine of 23 free throws and Tennessee hadn’t connected on 60.9 per cent of its second-half field-goal attempt.
Chandler was outstanding. In addition to his scoring, he had five steals, five rebounds and three assists. Vescovi had seven.
This was only the second home loss in 14 games for Mississippi State. Barnes recognized the Vol victory as an accomplishment.
“I would say it’s tough to win on the road anywhere. Winning a conference road game is really, really hard to do.”
Marvin West welcomes reader comments or questions. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com