Tennessee basketball: Vols beat Kansas a decade ago facing much greater odds

As Tennessee basketball gets set to face the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, let’s look back at the only time the UT Volunteers beat them.

It may have been a different team, and that team may have even made the Elite Eight. They may have been playing the Kansas Jayhawks at home at the time. But in spite of all that, the odds stacked against Tennessee basketball when they visit KU on Saturday won’t come near to the odds they overcame a decade ago in what was a historic win.

Nine days before that game, on the first day of the last decade, a story broke about four key Vols being arrested for weapons charges and marijuana possession. Brian Williams, Melvin Goins, Cameron Tatum and, most notably, Tyler Smith were all arrested after a traffic stop.

Just the day before, Tennessee basketball had secured a huge win over the Memphis Tigers to improve to 10-2. But after those arrests, they dropped two spots in the national rankings to No. 16 the following Monday.

Smith, who was their best player, was dismissed from the team. The other three players would all eventually rejoin, but they were all suspended at the time of this game. UT’s only outing since that arrest was an 88-71 win over the Charlotte 49ers.

Surely Kansas would blow them out. Two years removed from their national title, they beat the Vols the year before,  and they began the 2009-2010 season ranked No. 1. Heading into Knoxville, they maintained that No. 1 ranking with a 14-0 record. There was no way they would lose to such an undermanned team.

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Well, in a herculean effort and the most impressive coaching job Bruce Pearl ever did while on Rocky Top, Tennessee basketball shocked the world. Only able to go nine-deep and turning to walk-ons, the Vols saw Renaldo Woolridge, usually a reserve get red-hot and shoot four-of-six from three.

Skylar McBee, a walk-on came in and hit two more three-pointers, including a wild one falling to his side as the shot clock was expiring with 36 seconds to go. That gave UT a six-point lead. Wayne Chism held Cole Aldrich to seven points.

Meanwhile, Scotty Hopson emerged as the five-star he was recruited to be, leading the way with 14 points, and Bobby Maze became a major force, scoring 16 points and dishing out eight assists. The Vols’ press allowed them to force 16 turnovers, and by the end of the game, they had pulled off a shocking 76-68 win.

That remains the Vols’ only win in the series. Kansas has won the other three times they have met, and on Saturday, the schools will meet for a fifth time. In this round, the Jayhawks are playing at home while they have a couple of players suspended, both of whom are backup post players.

Taking that into account, the fact that they are ranked No. 3 and at home should not intimidate the Vols. Rick Barnes should give them quick look into Tennessee basketball’s history and put on this performance. Even with his new-look team that has undergone major transition and sits at 12-6, he has a bit of precedence to rely on to score this upset. What happened a decade ago proves that.