ST. LOUIS - Tennessee's men's basketball team matched its season high in turnovers, had its second-worst shooting night of the season and somehow managed to survive the quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday night.
No. 7 seed Mississippi State, clinging to a shred of NCAA tournament hope, played an inspired second half after losing key player Nick Weatherspoon to a scary neck injury, but the 13th-ranked and second-seeded Volunteers squeaked out a 62-59 victory behind a 50-33 rebounding edge. The Vols were playing their first game at the tournament after earning a double bye with their regular-season success.
"We just found a way to win," junior forward Admiral Schofield said, "and that's what we've been doing all year."
Mississippi State's Lamar Peters scored all but seven of his game-high 22 points in the second half to bring the Bulldogs (22-11) back from a nine-point deficit to within two points in the game's final minute.
Xavian Stapleton missed an open 3-pointer from the corner with five seconds left as Mississippi State tried to force overtime. Tennessee's Jordan Bone rebounded, was fouled and made a free throw with 3.5 seconds remaining. He missed his second attempt, but time expired as the Bulldogs tried to corral the rebound and pass the ball upcourt for a potential game-tying heave.
Tennessee (24-7) will play in the tournament's semifinals at 3 p.m. Eastern Saturday against sixth-seeded Arkansas (23-10). Ninth-seeded Alabama (19-14) and fourth-seeded Kentucky (22-10) play in today's first semifinal at 1.
"We just have to come out tomorrow better, because we play Arkansas (or) Florida, and those teams are really good," Bone said. "We just have to be sharp. Better than we were today."
Bone took the ball to the rim for layups on consecutive possessions in the middle of the second half, extending Tennessee's lead to 49-40 and forcing the Bulldogs to use a timeout with 8:15 remaining. Bone had been 0-for-5 until the quick scoring flurry, which ignited the Tennessee bench.
The Vols appeared on the cusp of pulling away as they had done in a 76-54 win at Mississippi State on Feb. 27.
Instead, Peters and Quinndary Weatherspoon - it was his brother who left the game on a stretcher early in the second half - brought the Bulldogs back. Even after Tennessee threatened to pull away, the Bulldogs and their small but vocal cheering faction refused to go quietly.
"We knew after that (injury to Nick Weatherspoon), they were going to bring it, especially for their teammate," Tennessee's Jordan Bowden said.
The Bulldogs persisted but never tied the game as Tennessee's defense stiffened at crucial moments. The Vols forced 16 turnovers and held Mississippi State to one assist.
Tennessee was led offensively by 15 points from SEC co-sixth man of the year Lamonte Turner, who scored seven of the team's final 10 points in his latest clutch outing. Schofield added 13 and Grant Williams 10.
"We've had a lot of tough, close games, so as a team we know we've just got to keep grinding, keep going," Turner said. "I think Bone got a few layups and gave us a big spark and kind of opened up opportunities for everyone else. When he does that, they have to respect that, and it opens up Grant and opens up me.
"I just think we were able to get stops in the end, and that's what it really comes down to, is defense."
With another win, the Vols would become the first Tennessee team since the 2009-10 squad to reach 25 victories in a season.
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.