NASHVILLE - The cruelty of college basketball in March is one moment or shot can be the difference between playing another game or the abrupt end of a season.
Tennessee found that out the hard way Thursday.
The season taught one final lesson to the young Volunteers, whose time on the court ended in a flash when Admiral Schofield missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds of a 59-57 loss to Georgia in the Southeastern Conference tournament's second round at Bridgestone Arena.
"It's tough," said Tennessee freshman Grant Williams, his words spoken softly through a cracking voice.
"It's going to be tough to watch later on. I don't know when I'll watch it or whether we'll watch it as a team or individually. It's going to be tough to see how we played this game. It's difficult to think that March is over so quick."
Foul trouble and another sluggish performance on offense consigned the Vols' season to end with a 16-16 record and denied them the chance at top-seeded Kentucky (26-5) in today's quarterfinals. Instead it will be the eighth-seeded Bulldogs (19-13) hoping to conjure up the kind of March magic that eluded the ninth-seeded Vols when Schofield's shot from the wing bounced off the front of the rim at the end of a frenzied possession that covered the final 22.9 seconds.
"If we could get that same look, we would do it every single time," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. "There's nobody on our team that works any harder in the gym. He's a shooter, and he's proven he's not afraid to take that shot.
"We came down to the last possession (wanting) to drive it and get a two, keep probing and take the best shot we can get. We probably turned down one or two before that, but we ended up with him with a great look, and I hate it for him because nobody works any harder than him. He'll get another chance next situation, and he'll knock it down for us."
Schofield admitted he rushed the shot as Georgia's Yante Maten closed out on him after freshman Jordan Bone drove and kicked the ball out.
"I shoot that shot all the time," Schofield said, "so I've got to be able to knock it down."
Williams battled through foul trouble and Robert Hubbs III again struggled with his ailing knee, and the Vols shot less than 33 percent while failing to score 60 points in a game for just the sixth time this season.
"We just didn't hit shots," Williams said. "We had our looks, and they just weren't falling. It wasn't our night, and that's hard to think about and hard to say, but it's the reality. We could have guarded better. I know I could have, and it's just difficult to think about."
Tennessee overcame those obstacles thanks to a gritty defensive effort against Georgia star J.J. Frazier (17 points on 4-of-13 shooting) and the unexpected scoring punch of Tennessee freshman guards Jordan Bone (14 points) and Lamonte Turner (13), who were thrust into larger roles after Shembari Phillips rolled his ankle during Wednesday's practice.
Turner had made five shots in a game just once in the previous 13, but his fearlessness was key early in the game when his teammates were tentative. Four of Bone's nine 3-pointers in SEC games were in a 23-point performance at Vanderbilt in mid-January, but the Nashville native put his rough finish to the regular season behind him and made four 3s in his hometown.
"I don't know, I guess it's just a coincidence," Bone said. "I just tried to be aggressive, as aggressive as I can knowing it could be our last game. I've got to learn from it, just (about) approaching every game like that, like it could be my last. I just tried being aggressive and playing with confidence and taking shots with confidence, hoping they were going to fall."
The raw emotion of the loss created a somber scene in Tennessee's locker room when it was opened for interviews shortly after the heartbreaking loss. There's hope, though, the many lessons these young Vols learned this season will help them chase and accomplish bigger and better things in the future.
"We're trying to be special," Williams said. "This group of guys we have coming back is going to be with each other for the next four years, or three years with (Schofield) and them. We've each got to be excited, but we've also got to think about what it felt like right now and how we want to feel later on."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.