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

By Caleb Calhoun

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images /

10. No. 18 Purdue Boilermakers

Nov. 22, 2017

Tennessee Volunteers win 78-75 (OT)

Battle 4 Atlantis Quarterfinals (Imperial Arena; Nassau, Bahamas)

Most of Tennessee basketball’s legendary wins during the regular season of the 2010s came against top 10 teams. However, the Purdue Boilermakers are a major exception. This was the game in which Rocky Top arrived as a program under Rick Barnes. Remember, Barnes took over a team that had gone .500 and fired Donnie Tyndall after one year amidst NCAA investigations.

In the rebuilding process, Barnes had a losing record and then finished .500 hi first two years. Then his team was expected to finish next to last in the SEC during his third year. This game changed all of that. Young prospects Grant Williams, Jordan Bowden and Jordan Bone had grown up. Kyle Alexander, Lamonte Turner and Admiral Schofield had emerged as well.

UT came back from an 11-point first-half deficit to turn it to a fight into the second half. Lamonte Turner drained a three-pointer with five seconds left to tie the game up and send it to overtime. Then Williams took over. Down by five in overtime, Williams scored six points and then assisted Alexander on another bucket in an 8-2 run.

Alexander, who had 13 points and 11 rebounds, then got a steal on Purdue’s final possession, and the Vols won 78-75. At that point, Rocky Top arrived as a program under Barnes. Williams had 22 points and eight rebounds. Schofield had 10 points and seven rebounds, and Turner added 17 points off the bench.

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