University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
20-9, 7-8
South Carolina
14-12-6-9
Vols Edge South Carolina in Overtime, 68-67
February 27, 2001 | Men's Basketball
 Tennessee's Charles Hathaway jumps above South Carolina's Tony Kitchings. (AP Photo/Bruce L. Flashnick) |
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Sometimes you need a little luck to get your team back on track, Tennessee coach Jerry Green says.
Green said Terrence Woods' 27-foot game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer provided just the stroke of fortune the Volunteers needed as they would go on to beat South Carolina 68-67 in overtime Tuesday night.
"We were lucky to hit that three," Green said. "Then we played well in overtime."
The play was designed for Woods, who told his teammates the shot was going down.
"I didn't see anything but the rim," Woods said. "I knew once it left my hands it was going in."
Vincent Yarbrough scored 13 points for Tennessee (20-9, 7-8 Southeastern Conference), including the game-winning slam dunk off an offensive rebound with 1:53 left in overtime.
South Carolina (14-12, 6-9) had several chances to win the game, but Charles Hathaway blocked Jamel Bradley's shot with 7.8 seconds left. The Gamecocks got the ball back after David Ross tied up Yarbrough, but Rolando Howell's 15-footer was off the mark.
The win gave Tennessee its second-consecutive road win, fourth 20-win season in a row and firmed up the Volunteer's NCAA Tournament chances.
"We needed this," Yarbrough said. "Now, we need to go out and play like we did earlier in the year."
Tennessee was ranked No. 4 in the country six weeks ago, but then lost seven of its next nine games before beating Vanderbilt 72-50 on Saturday.
Green said Wednesday's win was ugly, but still very important.
"We're going to play better than we played tonight before this year is over," he said.
The Volunteers led by 10 with 7:31 left in regulation after Marcus Haislip's 3-pointer made it 54-44.
South Carolina responded with a 17-0 run to take a 61-54 lead with 1:05 to go. Bradley scored 10 of his game-high 23 points during the run.
But Bradley missed a layup with 14 seconds left that would have put South Carolina ahead by four. The Gamecocks also had trouble shooting free throws, making only 2-of-6 in the last minute of regulation and missing their first four foul shots in overtime.
"That's what killed us," Fogler said.
During the last minute, Tennessee got a layup and foul shot from Ron Slay, then a 3-pointer by Jenis Grindstaff to set up Woods' tying shot.
Tennessee shot 46 percent for the game (26-of-56), while the Gamecocks shot only 36 percent (21-of-58). But Tennessee turned the ball over 20 times, keeping South Carolina in the game.
Jon Higgins had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Volunteers and Haislip added 10 points. Howell had 12 points for the Gamecocks.
