Vols survive, advance

Slideshow: Vols 89, South Carolina 87

ATLANTA — Chris Lofton was 1-for-9, but he made sure Tennessee wasn’t 1-and-done.

Lofton overcame a miserably cold shooting day Friday afternoon by burying a deep 3-pointer that lifted the Volunteers to an 89-87 win over South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament quarterfinals.

A UT-heavy crowd erupted with 11.4 seconds left, when the SEC’s top all-time 3-point shooter sank yet another postseason stomach punch from the perimeter.

“When Chris gets that look in his eye, we know to get to him the ball, and he had it,” Vols senior guard JaJuan Smith said. “We wouldn’t be sitting here smiling if it wasn’t for him making big shots time after time.”

The Vols followed Lofton’s shot with the rarest of Friday’s events — a defensive stop — to seal their first SEC tournament semifinal berth since 1991. They haven’t won two games in this tournament since that season, either, but thanks to early support from Wayne Chism and big finishes from Lofton and Tyler Smith, that could be the next milestone for this historic team.

“I’m really glad that our fans get to stay another day and enjoy this great city,” Pearl said. “We’re used to packing our bags and going home right now.”

South Carolina became the first team to lose three games in one season to the Vols since 1987, but not from lack of effort. The Gamecocks pushed UT to the brink of another SEC tournament embarrassment, taking an 87-86 lead on Dominique Archie’s putback slam with 23 seconds left.

Pearl then uncharacteristically called time out to set up the final play.

“I wanted to make sure we got the ball in the right hands,” Pearl said.

But Lofton was actually the second option on that set piece. He set a screen for No. 1 priority JaJuan Smith before running around a stiff Chism pick near the top of the key. He took a handoff from Tyler Smith and launched a no-doubter that didn’t even nick rim.

“As a shooter, you always think the next one is going in,” Lofton said. “It didn’t look good to that point, but Coach called my number, and I just had confidence it was going to go in.”

South Carolina coach Dave Odom credited Chism for the “roadblock” screen that left Lofton “stone-cold open.”

“Zam Fredrick was guarding Lofton at the time, and there was no way he could get through,” Odom said. “As important as the shot was, the screen made it happen, and it put it in the best 3-point shooter in the history of the league’s hands, and he delivered like he has done so many times.”

Sensational sophomore point guard Devan Downey missed a 3 seconds later, but the ball ricocheted out of bounds back to the Gamecocks with 1.1 seconds left. UT deflected the subsequent inbounds pass, though, and time expired on a thrilling start to Quarterfinal Friday.

“I understood we were in the double bonus, and I could have tried to (draw) a foul, but I wanted to go for the kill,” Downey said. “I wanted to beat them. The shot fell a little short, but it felt good, and if I had to do it again, I would take the same shot.”

After scoring a season-low two points in Knoxville on Sunday, Downey looked more like his All-SEC self Friday with 26 points, five rebounds, five assists and just two turnovers in his second 40-minute game in two days. Fredrick cooled from a hot shooting start but still added 24 points, five assists and no turnovers.

“Once (Downey) gets going, he’s probably the best point guard in this conference,” JaJuan Smith said.

The Vols shot a staggering 73 percent from the floor in the second half and had 27 assists on 35 field goals for the game, but they also had 18 turnovers and sent South Carolina to the free-throw line 30 times. The Gamecocks made all eight free tosses in the first half but just 13 of 22 in the second.

“We fouled them too much and didn’t get fouled ourselves,” Pearl said. “But from an offensive efficiency standpoint, you can’t ask for much more.”

Chism carried the Vols for much of the first 30 minutes, scoring a career-high 23 points. The 6-foot-9 sophomore was 2-for-3 on 3s.

Tyler Smith got all 13 of his points in the final 11 minutes, scoring 11 consecutive UT points before Lofton’s finisher.

“He makes that shot over and over again,” Pearl said of Lofton.

No one needed to remind Odom.

“That brings misery to the Gamecocks, as he’s done so many times,” Odom said.