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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 /

5. No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats

March 16, 2019

No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers win 82-78

SEC Tournament Semifinals (Bridgestone Arena; Nashville, Tenn.)

It was the peak of Tennessee basketball’s era under Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield. The Vols had reached No. 1 for a good part of the 2018-2019 regular season, but a late difficult schedule cost them a share of the SEC regular season title by one game. Still, the SEC Tournament arrived, and they were playing for a one seed.

In the semifinals, they met the hated Kentucky Wildcats, with whom they had split the series and who beat them the previous year in the SEC Tournament Championship game. This was a huge matchup, particularly since UT had won three of the previous five over two years. This turned into one of the most legendary comebacks in Vol history.

After a back and forth matchup, Kentucky built an eight-point lead with under three minutes to go. Grant Williams then got things going, hitting two free throws and then scoring a layup off a turnover on a press. Then UK scored, but Admiral Schofield cut it to two with a three-pointer. After a Lamonte Turner steal, Williams put the Vols ahead with a three-pointer at the 90-second mark.

Kentucky took the lead back, but Turner responded with his own three to put UT ahead by two. Then the Vols got a defensive stand and won by four on a free throw contest, as Jorden Bone hit four straight. Williams and Schofield had 20 and 21 points, Bone added 18, and Turner, who played poorly all game, had seven but made the clutch plays when they mattered.

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