University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
8-0
SMU
4-1
Slay's 22 Helps Overcome SMU 85-76
December 07, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Coach Green's Postgame Comments - Box Score (.pdf file)
- Box Score (.htm file)
- Quotes & Notes
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Even with Tennessee trailing by nine points in the second half, Ron Slay was not worried. Marcus Haislip wasn't either.
The two reserves combined for 29 points in the second half to help No. 6 Tennessee (8-0) rally to beat Southern Methodist 85-76 on Thursday night.
Their worries would have been warranted, as SMU (4-1) led almost the entire game until the final nine minutes.
"All we really wanted to do was tie the ball game first. Once we tied it, we knew we would run away with it," said Slay, who finished with a career-high 22 points.
Slay gave the Volunteers their first lead since 3-2 with a one-handed shot in the lane to make it 67-66 with 8:36 left. Tennessee lost the lead and then tied it again at 69 after Slay made two free throws with 7:04 left.
Slay made his only attempted 3 at the top of the key and Isiah Victor made one free throw for a 73-69 lead with 4:41 left, and the Vols never trailed again.
Quinton Ross cut the lead to 75-71 with a putback with 3:29 left, but SMU couldn't mount a comeback. The Vols put it out of reach after Tony Harris hit a 3 and Marcus Haislip dunked for an 81-72 lead with 1:55 left.
"I was never worried we were going to lose the game," Haislip said. "I just knew it was a matter of when we were going to start our run."
Haislip finished with 14 points, all in the second half, while Harris had 18, Victor 12 and Vincent Yarbrough 10 with 12 rebounds for Tennessee, which has won 35 straight non-conference home games.
"I think they thought because we were big men we weren't going to get out there and shoot the 3 and go to the hole. We shocked them," Slay said.
Jeryl Sasser had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Mustangs, playing their first ranked team of the season. SMU, which has lost 24 straight to ranked opponents since beating Houston in January 1993, is 0-17 against ranked opponents since Mike Dement became coach six years ago.
Willie Davis had 18, Damon Hancock 15 and Ross 14 for the Mustangs, who matched Tennessee's up-tempo style and bettered it with tougher defense.
Tennessee had trouble shooting from the perimeter and penetrating the Mustangs' half-court defense. The Vols shot a miserable 14-of-39 from the field and 3-of-11 from beyond the arc in the first half.
But Tennessee turned the tide in the second half.
"We didn't defend well in the second half," Dement said. "We got tired and spaced out. We broke down and maybe it was fatigue."
Tennessee, down by as many as nine in the second half, tied it at 61 with 10:29 left after Haislip made a 3 and then had a basket inside. It was the first tie since 14-14.
The Vols had cut the lead to two with a quick 7-0 run in 1 1/2 minutes. Slay made two free throws, Haislip hit a 3 and then followed with a dunk to make it 55-53 with 14:03 left.
The Vols started the second half with a quick run to close within four after Harris' 3 and Yarbrough's driving layup, but couldn't get closer. SMU pushed the lead back to nine after Hancock's basket with 15:40 to go made it 55-46.
"In the first half, SMU was the better team. They were more aggressive and we didn't play very good defense," Tennessee coach Jerry Green said.
Down by as many as 14 in the first half, the Vols closed the first half with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 43-36.
After Tennessee tied it at 14 with 12:28 left before halftime, SMU started a 15-6 run that gave the Mustangs a 10-point lead. Atkins finished it with two free throws for a 30-20 lead with 7:20 left in the first half.
SMU continued to expand on their lead, going ahead by as many as 14 after Sasser's 3 gave the Mustangs a 41-27 lead with 2:38 left.
