NASHVILLE – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team set up the semifinal most everyone in Bridgestone Arena wanted.
The Volunteers defeated Ole Miss, 76-65, in an entertaining Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday in Bridgestone Arena.
UT (25-7) advanced to play archrival Kentucky (30-2) in a Saturday semifinal. That will surely be a pricey ticket on the street, considering the number of Vols and Wildcats fans crowding downtown Nashville.
Kentucky defeated Alabama, 73-67, in the day’s first quarterfinal matchup.
A 9-0 run gave UT a 53-44 lead midway through the second half, but two 3-pointers from Ole Miss point guard Chris Warren narrowed the gap to 53-50. The Rebels cut it to 53-51, but the Vols answered with a 10-3 run that gave them a 63-54 advantage with 6:16 left.
Two free throws from senior forward Wayne Chism extended UT’s lead to 67-56, but big guard Terrico White scored on a putback to get Ole Miss within 68-60 a few possessions later. Two more Chism free tosses bumped the lead back to double digits, and junior center Brian Williams added another pair to make it 73-61.
Chism had 16 points and 15 rebounds. Senior wing J.P. Prince led the Vols with 17 points, sophomore Cameron Tatum scored 15 and senior point guard Bobby Maze added 13.
Warren led the Rebels with 16 points.
UT survived Ole Miss’s 6-for-6 start from 3-point range and used an 8-0 run to take a 34-31 lead with 2 minutes, 2 seconds left in the half.
Tatum led the Vols with 13 points in the first half on 4-for-4 shooting – four 3s and one free throw – and junior guard Zach Graham led the Rebels with 13 points on 3-for-4 shooting behind the arc.
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