Get out all your pathetic cries about a potential first No. 1 seed in Tennessee Basketball history slipping through the cracks with the Vols’ 78-76 loss to the Ole Miss Rebels on the road Wednesday night. Then please return to reality, Vol fans, and realize there are way more important things than a stupid, arbitrary number by a name.
After beating the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday, the Vols were a slight favorite to be the final No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament entering their game in Oxford, Miss., fighting with Alabama and the Florida Gators for it. UT then fell to Mississippi’s flagship state institution on the road when Igor Milicic Jr. missed a game-tying shot at the buzzer.
Before Milicic, Jaemyn Brakefield hit a layup off an offensive rebound to give Ole Miss a 78-76 lead with seven seconds to go. Offensive rebounds were the story of the night, as Ole Miss, which trailed 41-36 at halftime, came away with 15 of them to UT’s eight. That was the difference in the entire matchup.
So what?
Look, as the last No. 1 seed, Rick Barnes’ team, ranked No. 4 in both polls, would have traveled to San Francisco for the second week of the NCAA Tournament. Now, as a likely No. 2 seed, they’re looking at Atlanta, Indianapolis or Newark. It’s better to be a 2-seed in any of those spots than a 1-seed out West.
Beyond the seeding, though, this loss on its own is nothing to worry about. Part of the rebounding issue and Milicic’s miss at the end came down to Milicic himself playing with a calf injury all night. Despite finishing the game with nine points, he was clearly banged up.
Chaz Lanier showed up, going 3-of-8 from three en route to 15 points, and Felix Okpara showed his offensive presence down low with 13 points. Jordan Gainey, after 18 points Saturday, remains red-hot, as he scored 17 off the bench and went 4-of-9 from three.
UT was actually 12-of-31 from outside while Ole Miss was 5-of-19, so it truly came down to that rebounding. Also, Brakefield went off from the bench with 19 points, and Dre Davis had 13 points and 10 boards. Malik Dia had 13 points, and Matthew Murrell had 12.
In short, though, Ole Miss, which already had a top five win at home this past year under Chris Beard, against Bama, had proven its value and danger and cashed in on a banged up Tennessee Basketball team right where they needed to. They were also more desperate.
Simply put, the Vols lost nothing on a large scale by losing this game. As they fall to 24-6 and 11-6 in league play with their season finale at home Saturday against the South Carolina Gamecocks, the worst team in the SEC, their only focus should be getting healthy. Ole Miss improves to 21-9, 10-7 in league play and visits the Florida Gators Saturday.
