Tennessee basketball’s top 10 regular season wins of 2010s
1. No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks
Jan. 10, 2010
No. 16 Tennessee Volunteers win 76-68
Non-conference regular season game (Thompson-Boling Arena; Knoxville, Tenn.)
Yes, we go all the way back to the second game of the decade for this one, but it was so incredibly impressive. Tennessee basketball entered the decade with a 2009-2010 team that had just beaten the Memphis Tigers on the road on New Years Eve 2009 and was 10-2 and ranked No. 14.
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Well, on New Years Day to start the next decade, the Vols had four basketball players arrested on marijuana and weapon charges in Cameron Tatum, Melvin Goins, Brian Williams and Tyler Smith. This resulted in all of them being suspended and Smith, their best player, being dismissed. They beat the Charlotte 49ers 88-71 on Jan. 6 but still dropped to No. 16.
Then, on Jan. 10, enter the Kansas Jayhawks. This Vols team with four players out, including its best player, was facing the No. 1 team in the nation, one that was 14-0 at the time. They should not have had a chance to win. Well, in a shocker, they came together like never before.
In an incredibly close game, the Vols hung with Bill Self’s team all day. It was tied at halftime, but UT shockingly built a nine-point second half lead. Kansas tied it up with four minutes to go, but then things got crazy. The Vols went on a 7-0 to get the lead back, but Kansas scored four straight to make it 71-68 with under a minute to go,
On the next possession, the Jayhawks forced the Vols to run down the shot-clock, and Skylar McBee, a walk-on who was never going to play without those suspensions, drained a shocking three-pointer. That was the dagger, and the short-handed Vols scored a shocking upset.
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This was the best coaching job of Bruce Pearl’s era with Tennessee basketball. Renaldo Woolridge, who didn’t play much, had 14 points and hit four three-pointers. Wayne Chism held Cole Aldrich to seven points. Maze and Scotty Hopson had 16 and 17 points respectively, and J.P. Prince had four steals. It was a team win and the best of the decade.