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Arkansas Childrens Hospital Auxiliary
Twenty-one of the past presidents of Arkansas Childrens Hospital Auxiliary gathered Nov. 3 for a luncheon and reunion.
LEXINGTON, KY. - When Tennessee lost by 25 points at Kentucky's Rupp Arena last season, Admiral Schofield felt that the Volunteers were scared and that it showed.
This time around, it was all confidence.
Lamonte Turner, who missed all three shots he took in Rupp as a freshman last season, knocked down a contested 3-pointer from the top of the key with 26 seconds left to put Tennessee ahead of Kentucky by a point tonight.
Tennessee's Lamonte Turner (1) takes an uncontested shot during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, in Lexington, Ky. Tennessee won 61-59. (AP Photo/James Crisp)Schofield added the exclamation point with a breakaway dunk just a few moments later as the No. 15 Volunteers beat No. 24 Kentucky 61-59 for their first win since 2006 inside one of college basketball's hallowed halls.
It's the first time since 1999 that Tennessee (18-5, 8-3 SEC) has swept Kentucky (17-7, 6-5) in the regular season.
"It's a big deal for me and Kyle (Alexander) because when we came here, one of the things we said is that we wanted to beat Kentucky," Schofield said. "It's one of the reasons why I came to Tennessee and the SEC is because I wanted to play against Kentucky. To go 2-0 in one year is awesome. But it's not a championship game. It's just one game in the SEC leading up to what we're trying to accomplish, and that's win the SEC."
After Turner's 3-pointer and Schofield's dunk, the crowd of 23,332 fell silent, aside from a faint chorus of "Rocky Top" that emerged from the orange that was speckled into the stands. By Kentucky's standards this season has been a struggle, but the Wildcats were 13-1 at home entering the night, which makes the Vols' win the latest bullet point on their increasingly impressive resume.
Turner ranked his clutch shot second among those he's hit in his career. The only one he ranked better was a 3-pointer against Purdue earlier this season that sent that game to overtime. Tennessee then beat the Boilermakers, who are now ranked third in the nation.
"Honestly, coming down I knew I wanted to take the last shot," Turner said. "I didn't know I was going to get a good look at it. I definitely wanted to take the last shot, but I was going to make the right play."
With four 3s and 16 points, Turner was Tennessee's most potent offensive weapon in a game that began as a defensive slugfest.
At the third media timeout with 7:02 remaining in the first half, the game was tied at 12. Kentucky was shooting 16.7 percent while Tennessee was shooting 29.4 percent. Both of Kentucky's made shots from the field were 3-pointers from Quade Green off the bench.
During the final minutes of the half, both teams finally found some offense.
Turner hit a 3 with 12 seconds to go in the half to put Tennessee up 27-24 before Green hit a pull-up jumper with three seconds left, making the score 27-26. It tied the Vols' lowest first-half scoring output of the season.
Neither team gained a lead larger than three points throughout the game until Tennessee's Grant Williams hit two free throws with 4:55 remaining to make it 50-46. Williams then picked up his fourth foul just 11 seconds later as Kentucky used a 7-0 run to change the game's complexion.
The Vols' Jordan Bowden scored four straight points to counter three free throws from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a Kentucky freshman from Hamilton Heights in Chattanooga. Then Turner found himself with the ball as the Vols trailed by two. After Turner's clutch shot put them ahead, Kentucky coach John Calipari did not call a timeout to set up a potential game-winning play.
Gilgeous-Alexander turned the ball over, Schofield grabbed it and dunked with four seconds left and the Vols escaped with the monumental win.
"This one is on me," Calipari said as he lamented his decision not to call time out.
Bowden scored 13 points and Schofield and Williams added 12 and 10 for Tennessee.
Schofield looked at a picture as he discussed the game's outcome and the difference between the scared Tennessee team that played at Rupp Arena last year and the one that handled the raucous environment this time.
"Our confidence and swagger comes from work ethic," he said. "When you've put in the time, nobody can tell you that you can't shoot when you've shot 1,000 shots a day. Nobody can tell you that you can't dribble when you work on it every day. When you're constantly working and working and working and when you put your energy into each other, it translates.
"It really paid dividends tonight."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.