Tennessee Volunteers Beat Texas A&M Aggies in 4 Overtimes
By Zach Ragan
Spruce Derden–USA TODAY Sports
The Tennessee Volunteers topped the Texas A&M Aggies in a thrilling four overtime affair on Saturday in College Station. The game was mostly back and forth and the Vols had a chance to win at the end of regulation. Trailing by one, Jarnell Stokes went to the free throw line with five seconds to go, making one of two. The Aggies missed a shot at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.
The Volunteers were down by four with 25 seconds to play in the first overtime. After a Trae Golden layup the Vols found themselves down two, they then fouled J’Mychal Reese, who hit one of two free throws. Jordan McRae would then hit a three pointer that would send the game to a second overtime.
The Aggies jumped out to a 73-69 lead in the second overtime, but the Vols battled back behind a three pointer from Golden. Reese answered with a jumper for the Aggies to stretch the lead to three. After a Stokes free throw and a Elston Turner missed shot, Golden would hit a short jumper to tie the game and send Tennessee and Texas A&M to a third overtime.
Tennessee had a chance to win the game in the third overtime, but Golden turned the ball over under the basket. Texas A&M got a final shot off, but couldn’t convert as time expired.
The Vols started the fourth overtime on a 6-1 run, and never looked back. Senior Skylar McBee hit a three pointer with 1:13 to go, pushing the lead to eight. Texas A&M would foul several times in the final minute, but the Vols proved too much for the Aggies in overtime number four.
The win pushes the Vols one step closer to their goal of making the NCAA tournament. Tennessee improved to 16-10 and 8-6 in the SEC, and have now won five games in a row.
Trae Golden led the Vols with 32 points. Jordan McRae added 23 points, and Jarnell Stokes finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds, his 12th double-double of the season.
Tennessee will return home to Knoxville to take on the Florida Gators on Tuesday night. The fifth ranked Gators are 21-4 overall and 11-2 in the SEC.
The Vols and the Gators will tip off at 9:00 pm est on Tuesday night at Thompson Boling arena. The game will be televised on ESPN.