Tennessee basketball’s top 10 shots in history
1. Jon Higgins game-winning half-court buzzer beater
2002 at Georgia Tech
There were very few bright spots during the Buzz Peterson years with Tennessee basketball. However, early in the 2002-2003 season, in a forgettable game against a forgettable Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets team, he was part of the craziest moment in school history.
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The Vols were 2-1, coming off a blowout loss to the Texas A&M Aggies, and facing the GT in Atlanta. They had fallen behind by 13 points, but in an ugly affair, they fought back in the second half and got the all down by three with four seconds left. Georgia Tech missed a free throw with a chance to clinch it, and Jon Higgins was fouled on the rebound.
As a result, trailing 68-65 with one and a half seconds left, Higgins would have to make the first, miss the second and hope for a tip-in. After making the first, though, he accidentally banked in the second to make it 68-67. That’s crazy enough. It gets crazier. The Vols naturally fouled on the next possession, sending GT to the free throw line, but there was half a second to go and no timeouts.
B.J. Eder missed the first free throw. All he had to do was miss the second on purpose, and the game would be over. However, he made it, allowing the Vols to try an in-bound heave. Against surprisingly no real press, Ron Slay threw an in-bound heave to Higgins, and Higgins turned and heaved the ball himself from half court. Shockingly, it went in, giving UT a 70-69 win.
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Two mistakenly made free throws and horrible defensive coaching by Paul Hewitt set up that heave. However, Higgins’ heave remains the craziest, luckiest shot in Tennessee basketball history, even in a forgettable era. There’s no way any other shot could top it. As a result, it has to be No. 1 on our list.