KNOXVILLE – There were plenty of reasons to expect a letdown for the Tennessee men’s basketball team Tuesday night.
The fifth-ranked Volunteers were coming off a huge home win against then-No. 4 Kentucky in their previous game. It was senior night, marking the final home game for four players who had helped build the program to its current status. That group has gone from 15 wins in the 2015-16 season to 26 last season to 27 so far this season (including a program-record 19 straight earlier in the schedule), so a bond between the senior class and the fanbase had been formed.
The emotions ran rampant during the pregame ceremonies, most evident when the final senior, Admiral Schofield, had his name called. Escorted by his family, Schofield acknowledged teammates and coaches before being presented to the crowd of 20,555 at Thompson-Boling Arena, waving and touching his chest over his heart in appreciation as tears streamed down his face.
“I think it was harder this morning, waking up and realizing this would be my last game,” Schofield said after the Vols beat Mississippi State 71-54 to improve to 27-3 overall and 15-2 in Southeastern Conference play.
“I got most of the tears out this morning. I was just more thankful because of the amount of support I got when my name was called. It was very touching to see how many people support me. It wasn’t a sad type of tears. It was more of appreciative tears.”
It was the perfect opportunity for the visiting Bulldogs to cash in and steal a win. Afterward, even Vols coach Rick Barnes noted he was concerned about it.
“I was. Even though the preparation was good,” Barnes said. “There’s so much that goes around on senior night. There’s just so much that’s happening. It should be a special night for your seniors, and these four guys that we have, there have a lot to be very proud of. But their family is coming here, it’s a special night and it’s a 9 o’clock game.
“You’re concerned about a lot of things. You’re concerned about the players having an extra couple of hours in the afternoon – do they go back and sleep and does it get them out of their cycle? – and then you worry about the emotion being too high. Even though I thought Admiral and Kyle (Alexander) were terrific with that. I thought that they really kept it under control. Sometimes you expect it to be the other way around where the seniors are too emotional, but I thought those guys were terrific.”
In the first half, it was Schofield who hit his first three shots and scored 11 points. It was Alexander who laid the groundwork for his best performance in some time, with four points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
And led by the seniors, the rest soon followed.
Tennessee put together another dominant defensive performance, limiting the visitors to their fewest points of the season as well as the second-lowest percent of field goals made (33 percent).
The Vols finish their regular season Saturday at Auburn and are still fighting for the top seed in next week’s SEC tournament. The Vols are tied atop the league standings with LSU – which won 79-78 in overtime at Florida on Wednesday night and faces struggling Vanderbilt on Saturday – and are a game in front of Kentucky, which hosts the Gators on Saturday.
A lot will be on the line going into the league’s final day, but none of that mattered Tuesday night. Tennessee’s senior class improved to 54-11 at home over the course of its career, including winning 26 straight at Thompson-Boling Arena.
So for Alexander, Schofield and walk-ons Lucas Campbell and Brad Woodson, playing a final game in Knoxville was the final step in a journey that started when they were unheralded freshmen four years ago.
“At the end of the day, I am just happy we won and protected our home court all season,” Alexander said. “I am truly blessed. God is so good to have put me in this situation and surround me with these people. I am glad we got the job done today and celebrate as a team.
“I didn’t think I was going to get as emotional as I did in the locker room, but that just shows how much of a family we really are.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.