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Tennessee Basketball: Vols Stun Vanderbilt Commodores in SEC Tournament to Advance to Quarterfinals

By Caleb Calhoun

Mar 10, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers bench reacts during the first half of the third game of the SEC tournament against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers bench reacts during the first half of the third game of the SEC tournament against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee basketball won its second SEC Tournament game in less than 24 hours. The Volunteers improved to 15-18 by shocking the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Wade Baldwin thought he got a shot off as time expired to send the game to overtime. But a review changed the call, and the Tennessee Vols held on to shock the No. 5 seed Vanderbilt Commodores on the second day of the SEC Tournament to advance to the conference quarterfinals.

Related Story: 5 Things Vols Must do to Win the SEC Tournament

With only seven players seeing action in the game, the Vols were coming off a blowout victory over the Auburn Tigers less than 24 hours before, and they shocked a team that blew them out twice during the regular season.

Once again, with no Kevin Punter Jr., the Vols were led by Armani Moore with 14 points, Detrick Mostella with 18 points, and Derek Reese with 10 rebounds.

Tennessee took a 15-point lead on the Commodores early in the first half and a 12-point lead to halftime, but Vanderbilt made a furious comeback with red-hot shooting from the three-point line in the second half, even taking a one-point lead twice. However, that was all they could do.

The Vols took a five-point lead with a minute left, but it went down to the final seconds thanks to their inability to close on free throws. But after they missed the front-end of a one-and-one with four and a half seconds left, Baldwin took the ball coast to coast to get a shot in before it was determined he got it off too late.

Robert Hubbs III came away with 10 points in the game and was four-of-five shooting in the second half, showing a little more aggression, and Admiral Schofield had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Vanderbilt had 10 turnovers in the first half but only committed 12 turnovers in the game overall, and they also shot 37 percent from the three-point line while Tennessee shot 31.6 percent. The big story of the day was the Vols out-hustling the Commodores in every fashion.

Tennessee turned the ball over only seven times and was only out-rebounded 39-37 against a team with three seven-footers. It was just the heart of Armani Moore, who did not want to play his final game as a senior, that willed the Vols to victory.

Now, Vanderbilt is fully at the mercy of the NCAA to get into the tournament with a No. 48 RPI ranking and a 19-13 record. Meanwhile, Tennessee is only 15-18 but moves on to play the LSU Tigers, a team they beat easily earlier in the year.

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The Vols just might have a chance to pull off a shocker in this tournament. With two games in the bag already, they now move to the quarterfinals.

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