NASHVILLE — As a sports writer friend noted at halftime of Friday night’s SEC tournament quarterfinal game between Tennessee and Arkansas, “It’s never a good sign when you have more turnovers (7) than field goals (4).”
Yet that’s just where the Volunteers found themselves after 20 minutes of toil and trouble against the Razorbacks. They were down 45-25 and looking every bit that hapless and hopeless against the Hogs.
Yes, there was yet much time to rally. South Carolina had found itself in roughly the same hole against Arkansas a little more than a week earlier and almost caught up.
Heck, Tennessee had worked similar magic against Vanderbilt a night earlier, closing on a preposterous 20-2 run inside this same Bridgestone Arena to win by six. Miracles don’t just happen inside Olympic hockey rinks. There might be at least one more shocker hiding in those Clorox Orange uniforms.
And sure enough, Donnie Tyndall’s Tenn Men came storming back. By the time the final four minutes rolled around in this seemingly endless string of free throws — 73 in all — the Vols were within six points, then four, with 2:43 to go.