Orange payback

KNOXVILLE — Another slow start. Another second-half deficit.

But not another loss.

The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team avoided its first three-game losing streak in three seasons Wednesday night. The Volunteers used a key second-half run to outlast Georgia 69-60 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

UT (19-6, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) avoided falling down toward the NCAA tournament bubble, while Georgia (11-13, 3-8) missed a great chance to vault itself into NCAA bubble contention by squandering yet another late lead.

“That was a big, big win,” Vols coach Bruce Pearl said. “There’s been a lot of pressure on the kids, knowing the schedule, and how we have just a few home games left and a tough road ahead. It was a very gutsy win, under very, very adverse circumstances.”

Seniors Wayne Chism, J.P. Prince and Bobby Maze keyed UT’s big spurt — which turned a six-point deficit into a 59-50 lead — a nd the 20th-ranked Vols held off Georgia star big man Trey Thompkins down the stretch for a much-needed, confidence-boosting win.

Thompkins was every bit as efficient as he was explosive. He led all scorers with 25 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the field and 6-for-7 from the free-throw line, and he single-handedly answered UT’s second-half spurt for several possessions.

Chism, who hasn’t practiced for two weeks with ankle, knee and hip injuries, led the Vols with 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Prince, who started at the 4 position in UT’s new lineup but also played several minutes on the wing, added 15 points and seven rebounds. Maze, who started at the 2 guard spot but also played several rotations at his normal point guard position, had 13 points.

Junior Melvin Goins started at point guard, which slid Maze over to shooting guard. Sophomore Scotty Hopson started on the wing, rather than at shooting guard.

The biggest change, though — literally — was 6-foot-10 junior center Brian Williams’ return to the main rotation. Williams had just four points and one rebound in 18 minutes, but he had three key assists and no turnovers.

“We made some changes, and I think some of them were good,” Pearl said. “Melvin and Bobby playing together, particularly late in the game, was positive. I thought that Brian Williams starting the second half was positive, and Brian and Wayne played well together out there.

“I thought Steven Pearl showed us how to guard Thompkins a little bit (in the second half). It’s bizarre but true.”

Thompkins was the only Bulldog who scored more than six points. Sophomore guard Travis Leslie, one of the SEC’s most athletic and most improved players from last season, had struggled with first-half foul trouble and finished with just four points and three rebounds.

“Trey is just a great, great player,” Pearl said. “We tried hard to get him here, and he’s going to be a terrific pro. But I thought we did a good job neutralizing their other guys.”

Chism hit two big shots early in the second half, including a 3 that pulled the Vols within 34-33. Thompkins answered promptly with a trey, but two Prince slams highlighted an 8-0 that have the Vols a 41-37 lead.

The Bulldogs stayed tough, retaking the lead at 50-49 after two quick Thompkins jumpers, but sophomore guard Scotty Hopson’s put-back in the paint capped the 10-0 run that gave UT a 59-50 lead with 6:07 left.

“We got over the hump in the second half, and we came out with a lot more intensity,” Maze said. “This was a must-win game. We came in at halftime and said, ‘We must win this game. We have to get on a winning streak right now, starting with Georgia.’”

Both teams started slowly — as most teams have in most UT games this season — but the Vols held a 6-3 lead after the first five minutes.

Georgia took the lead during an ensuing 12-2 run, though, and that gap only slightly narrowed to 29-24 at the break.

First half statistics weren’t kind to the Vols, who shot 11-for-30 from the floor, 1-for-8 from behind the arc and 1-for-5 from the free-throw line. They were also soundly defeated on the glass at that point, trailing 22-16.

“In the first half, offensively, we just had no rhythm, no balance, no feel at all,” Pearl said. “It was a real struggle.”

Chism’s seven points and seven rebounds kept the Vols afloat in the first half, but Thompkins had 12 points and seven rebounds at the break.

Georgia shot just 9-for-24 from the field and 2-for-9 from long range in the first half, but an efficient 9-for-11 from the free-throw line kept the Bulldogs in the lead.

“I don’t think people really understand how difficult it is to change what you’re doing all the time,” Prince said. “We’ve made a lot of changes, because we’ve had to deal with a lot of stuff. We had a new starting five tonight, and we had some new rotations out there on the floor.

“We had to make more adjustments tonight ... but fortunately we made them in time to win the game.”

Other contacts for Wes Rucker are www.twitter.com/wesrucker and www.facebook.com/tfpvolsbeat.