Tennessee's Admiral Schofield dunks over Mississippi State's Robert Woodard during their teams' SEC tournament quarterfinal Friday night in Nashville.
Tennessee men's basketball coach Rick Barnes is congratulated by fans after the Vols beat Mississippi State on Friday night at the SEC tournament.
Tennessee's Grant Williams leaps in behind Mississippi State's Reggie Perry during the first half of an SEC tournament quarterfinal Friday night in Nashville.
Tennessee guard Jordan Bowden celebrates after a score against Mississippi State on Friday night in Nashville.NASHVILLE - Not sure he could believe what he had just seen, Tennessee forward Grant Williams fell into teammate Yves Pons' arms on the bench.
Definitely sure what he had just done, Admiral Schofield smiled and skipped around while a mostly orange-clad crowd at Bridgestone Arena cheered and went crazy.
Schofield's dunk over Mississippi State's Robert Woodard was the highlight of a 14-2 second-half run and helped carry the eighth-ranked, third-seeded Volunteers to an 83-76 win late Friday night in the Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinals.
"I was at a loss for words," point guard Jordan Bone said. "That was powerful, very powerful. It was amazing just to see him take off."
Said Schofield: "It felt great, no doubt about it. Always dunking the ball and showing my athleticism is great. I have this reputation for not being athletic, just being a big guy, so any time I get to show it, I get excited."
The win pushed the Vols (28-4) into a semifinal against fourth-ranked, second-seeded Kentucky (27-5) at 3:30 p.m. EDT Saturday. Kentucky beat Alabama 73-55 in another quarterfinal Friday, dropping the Crimson Tide to 18-15 overall and hurting their NCAA tournament hopes.
The first semifinal, set for 1, pits eighth-seeded Florida (19-14) against 22nd-ranked, fifth-seeded Auburn (24-9). In the quarterfinals, Florida beat ninth-ranked, top-seeded LSU 76-73, while Auburn beat fourth-seeded South Carolina 73-64.
The performance the Vols put together Friday was the type they have needed for some time.
They got efficient scoring from their two top players as All-SEC first-team selections Schofield and Williams combined for 36 points on 17-for-29 shooting. Williams had 16 points before fouling out with 47.8 seconds to play.
Tennessee also got a stalwart performance from Kyle Alexander, who finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks, and solid play from guards Bone and Lamonte Turner, who had a combined 17 assists and 19 points. More impressive for the 6-foot-2 Turner was his defense - he was credited with four steals and a block and harassed the talented Mississippi State guards all game long.
"No doubt we knew it was going to be a really hard-fought game, which it was," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. "I thought from a team (standpoint), we really did a lot of great things out there. Lamonte Turner was terrific. You look at the stat sheet, might not show up. We were just in the locker room, felt what he did was really the difference in the game."
There was also solid play from the Tennessee bench, led by John Fulkerson. While he only had two points and three rebounds, he affected the game during his 10 minutes.
The Vols shot 56 percent from the field in the second half, carving up the Bulldogs (23-10) for the second time in 11 days - Tennessee had celebrated its senior night with a 71-54 win against Mississippi State.
The defense was the spark, though. The Vols had used a 13-3 first-half run to build a 34-28 halftime lead, but Mississippi State roared back to tie the game three times, the final at 42 with 14:51 to play.
The starting point of the Vols' back-breaking run was a 3-pointer by Bone with the shot clock winding down. The Bulldogs' Quinndary Weatherspoon answered with a layup, but Turner scored, followed by a Williams jumper. The lead stretched to 59-46 and crept up to 14 before the Bulldogs - led by a 3-point barrage from Aric Holman - rallied late, getting as close as seven points twice, including the final tally.
Holman was 5-for-5 from 3-point range and had 20 points to lead the Bulldogs. Weatherspoon had 17 points but six turnovers, while Reggie Perry and Lamar Peters each scored 15 points.
Tennessee also turned 16 offensive rebounds into 23 second-chance points and outscored the Bulldogs 48-36 in the paint.
The win sets up the third - and most important - meeting this season between the Vols and Wildcats, who split their home-and-home series. Each team won by double figures on its home court, and the winner is likely going to be a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament, adding even more attention to the contest.
"Honestly, we were just looking for an opportunity to win a championship," Schofield said. "We didn't handle our business in the regular season. We've got Kentucky next. They're a very talented team. They play well together, very fast in transition. The first two matchups, them punching us, us punching them, now we're facing each other again. We have to go out, compete, do what we do. We know they're going to come out, compete, do what they do.
"It's good for our fans, both sides. At the same time we've got a championship in mind, and they do, too. We've got to go out and compete and fight just like anybody else."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.