NASHVILLE — Perhaps a suspension can be a good thing. Because Cameron Tatum was banished from competition during Tennessee’s mid-January overtime win over Ole Miss, the Rebels apparently didn’t spend much time on the redshirt sophomore reserve in Friday morning’s scouting report at the SEC basketball tournament.
So Mississippi didn’t seriously contest Tatum’s first shot of the quarterfinal contest, a mistake that cost the Rebs three points when it sweetly swished. Nor did they guard him much on his second, third and fourth 3-point shots, all of which lit up the scoreboard.
By the time the first half was over, Tatum had hit all four of his 3-point attempts — baskets that kept Tennessee within 35-34 of Ole Miss at intermission, baskets that had much to do with the Volunteers’ eventual 76-65 victory.
Or as Rebs coach Andy Kennedy said afterward, “He’s a kid who’s a single-figure scorer, and he comes out and knocks down 15 in a huge game in a very efficient manner. That was something they did not have the first time we played them.”
They did not have him, of course, because he was suspended for four games for his involvement in the Vols’ New Year’s Day disaster. Tatum was at the wheel of a car that contained drugs, guns and alcohol as well as three teammates.
“Cameron’s always been a big face on our team this year,” UT coach Bruce Pearl said late Friday. “But because of some injuries and missing a few games, he just hasn’t been able to shine as consistently.”
All three of Pearl’s Parolees — Tyler Smith was kicked off the team — are beginning to shine at the right time for the Vols to make a deep NCAA tournament run.
Thursday the formerly suspended Brian Williams made a big difference in the Vols’ 10-point opening-round win over LSU. On Friday it was Tatum. Does anyone doubt that the third miscreant — backup point guard Melvin Goins — will become a super sub when the Vols meet No. 2 Kentucky in this afternoon’s SEC tourney semifinal?
“That’s one of the things we will never forget about this season,” Pearl said after the Vols improved to 25-7 overall. “We were able to beat Charlotte, Kansas, Auburn and Ole Miss (in Knoxville) with just six scholarship players.
“Then little by little, getting guys back gave us energy, and we were able to improve as a team as the season progressed.”
The Vols have progressed so much in winning seven of their last eight games and five in a row that it should surprise no one if they knock off Kentucky today for the second time in two weeks.
As LSU coach Trent Johnson noted after Thursday’s loss to the Vols, “They can beat you slow and they can beat you fast.”
The Big Orange can also beat you with many different faces, given the fact that six players have led them in scoring at least once this season. The Cats have only four of those, and most of the time the leaders are either superb freshmen John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins or junior Patrick Patterson.
Wherea UT knocked down eight 3-pointers against the Rebels, the Wildcats missed 12 of 13 triples in a nervous 73-67 win over Alabama. It was the fourth time in their last six games that they’ve failed to hit more than three 3s, a statistic certain to be pounced on by Pearl.
“Our coaching staff does a great job scouting other teams,” Tatum said. “We have so many options that we feel there’s always something we can exploit.”
They exploited UK well enough two weeks ago to win by nine points in Knoxville after the Cats had won by 11 in Lexington two weeks earlier. Now comes the rubber game.
“We may not have any All-Americans,” Tatum said, “but we know we’ve got a lot of really good basketball players.”
Around 3:30 this afternoon we’ll know whether a lot of really good UT players can beat a few great ones from UK.