Tennessee basketball’s top 10 regular season wins of 2010s

2. No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs

Dec. 9, 2018

No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers win 76-73

Jerry Colangelo Classic (Talking Stick Resort Arena; Phoenix, Ariz.)

Beating the Purdue Boilermakers in 2017 proved Tennessee basketball had arrived under Rick Barnes. However, this was the game that proved his rebuilding methods had worked and turned the Vols into a powerhouse.

UT returned every key player from its 2017-2018 team, and expectations were immediately high. An overtime loss to the Kansas Jayhawks in the NIT Season Tip-Off Championship did not deter anybody, and coming into this game, they were 6-1 and ranked No. 6. The Gonzaga Bulldogs, meanwhile, were 9-0, ranked No. 1 and had already beaten the Duke Blue Devils.

This was effectively a road game for the Vols in Phoenix, and Lamonte Turner. Well, it didn’t matter. The Vols set the tone with a 7-0 start. They led by one at halftime, but Gonzaga came back to build a nine-point lead with just over six minutes to go in the second half. But then Jordan Bowden hit two three-pointers with a Jordan Bone layup in between. Grant Williams made a layup.

Then Admiral Schofield happened. He tied it up with a huge three. After Gonzaga went back up by three, Schofield then hit a two and a three to give UT a 73-71 lead. Gonzaga then tied it up, but Schofield hit a three with 24 seconds left. He scored the Vols’ final 11 points, finishing with 30, and then two defensive stops gave them a 76-73 win over the No. 1 ranked team.

Williams added 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Jordan Bowden had 11 off the bench. UT used this momentum to be a part of a 19-game winning streak and spend four weeks ranked No. 1. It was a legendary performance.