Tennessee basketball: 10 memorable games between Vols and Memphis Tigers
3. 1990-1991: Memphis beats Tennessee 74-72 (Game played Nov. 27, 1990)
You’re not going to find much magnitude in this game, and there was nothing memorable here about either team’s season. Tennessee basketball would go 12-23 this year while the Memphis Tigers would go 17-15.
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But this made the list because of how thrilling the game itself was. The previous year, the two had met in the NIT with the Vols winning. So Memphis was now headed to Rocky Top for the fourth game in the series in three years.
Larry Finch’s team gave fans the most thrilling finish in the history of the series. With 39 seconds left, the game was tied at 72, and it was going to be another close battle, the third of four times they had played each other since the rivalry was renewed.
The Tigers played for the last shot, and Elliot Perry was supposed to take it. He drove to the basket but missed his shot, which should have meant overtime. However, the ball landed in Kelvin Allen’s hands, and Allen threw it up from under the basket.
With no time left, the ball went in, and the Tigers won off a buzzer beater. They had shocked UT in Thompson-Boling Arena. It was actually the program’s first ever win in Knoxville. So although there was no historical significance to this game in terms of what it meant to the future, buzzer beaters always make the list. And it put this game in the top three because of how thrilling it was.