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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 Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images /

6. No. 3 Pittsburgh Panthers

Dec. 11, 2010

No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers win 83-76

SEC/Big East Invitational (CONSOL Energy Center; Pittsburgh, Pa.)

This was the last peak of the Bruce Pearl era. For context, Tennessee basketball had just made the Elite Eight and returned its leading scorer in Scotty Hopson while adding five-star Tobias Harris. In the offseason, the revelations of Bruce Pearl’s lie about the barbecue hit the national news, and in November it became clear he would serve an eight-game SEC suspension.

Still, these guys were loaded, and at this point, they were 6-0 traveling to face the No. 3 ranked Pitt Panthers on the road. Hopson used this moment to go off for 27 points, hitting three three-pointers and dominating the game. Melvin Goins did their parts as well, though, with 19 and 14 points respectively. Harris wasn’t even needed with that elite guard play.

Pitt was no match for Pearl’s up-tempo press, and the Vols hit seven-of-11 three-pointers. UT took a 12-point lead into halftime and and built up a 21-point lead with under 10 minutes to go. Despite making respectable, Pitt still never threatened and lost at home by seven.

At this moment, the Vols looked like a national championship team and moved up to No. 7. Then they suffered three straight losses, and the distractions of the Pearl saga kicked in. They fell to 19-15 on the year, losing their first NCAA Tournament game by 30 points and then firing Pearl the following Monday. It was a waste of what truly was a talented team.

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