University of Tennessee Athletics
Richardson Delivers Volunteers
March 13, 2015 | Men's Basketball
By Brian Rice
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
UTSports.com
If that would have been the case, it would not have been for a lack of effort on his part. The senior was doing everything for his team, just as he has done most of the year. And when times appeared darkest for the Volunteers, Richardson pulled them from the depths and in to the quarterfinals.
Richardson scored 22 points, 15 of those in the second half to lead Tennessee to a 67-61 victory over Vanderbilt at Bridgestone Arena.
"Josh has been amazing all year long," head coach Donnie Tyndall said. "He's a tough kid. He's a great kid. He's a resilient guy. When things don't go his way, he doesn't hang his head and pout. Our team sees that. They feed off his leadership. He was fantastic tonight."
It is not difficult to narrow down those darkest moments, Tennessee rallied from double-digit deficits twice in the second half and twice those comebacks were powered by the senior.
Vanderbilt opened the half on a 7-2 run, the only UT points in the span coming on a Richardson jumper. With the Vols trailing by 13, Richardson scored nine points in an 11-0 UT run to pull within two points with 12:18 to play.
But the Commodores came right back with a 12-2 stretch that left Tennessee down 12 with 7:18 to go. Richardson committed a foul that took the game to the under-8:00 media timeout. In the huddle, he exerted the same influence that he had on the court.
"I just said that we were playing like we didn't want to be here, like we didn't know how to play basketball," Richardson said when asked about his fiery speech. "I told them we were going to be on our way home if we didn't turn it around. I think we definitely picked it up right after that timeout."
To say they picked it up is a vast understatement. Tennessee allowed Vanderbilt two points the rest of the game. Allowing two points in 7:18 is impressive against any team. Doing it against a Vanderbilt team that closed out the Volunteers by making its last 13 shots in a 73-65 win on Feb. 26 was even sweeter.
"We just got to them this time," Robert Hubbs III said of shutting down the Commodores. "Plain and simple, we closed out. Unfortunately they missed some shots. We got a chance and we got down the floor and played fast paced basketball."
To praise Richardson is not to undersell the impact of other players on the court. Hubbs had six points in the run that would immediately follow the timeout, including the first of three-straight 3-pointers that pulled UT within three and the layup that tied the game at 59-59. Kevin Punter and Derek Reese also nailed treys in the run.
"Well, that's exactly what they did to us at our place, if you remember," Tyndall said. "It was bang, bang, bang, and we were up 13. All of a sudden we're down five or six. Basketball is one of those games. It's a game of spurts. It's a game of runs. Both teams tonight made several runs. But fortunately, we closed it out the right way."
Vanderbilt's final basket of the game at the 3:07 mark gave the Commodores the lead back, 61-59. Richardson tied it back up 11 seconds later. After a steal by Reese, Richardson drove the lane and dished a pass out to Hubbs for the go-ahead three. A few made free throws later, the Vols were moving on with a new mindset.
"I just think that for the rest of this tournament, we have to be aggressive," Richardson said. "I think that today when we were settling or when we were kind of letting Vanderbilt be the aggressor in the first half, I think that's when they were capitalizing off our mistakes. In the second half, when we stopped thinking and just started playing and attacking, that's when the game turned. We have to do that from the jump next time."
Richardson and his team earned at least one more day together, and they will spend it focusing on the next challenge. Celebrating a win in the season series with Vanderbilt can wait.
"This time of year, you don't have time to enjoy it," Tyndall said. "You just move on to the next one and you're relieved and excited you still get to play. But there's no time to bask in the glory."
