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For the second time in four days, No. 6 Tennessee walked off the floor in complete shock after suffering a narrow defeat by way of an unbelievable buzzer-beating three-pointer.
The Volunteers (19–6, 8–4 SEC) fell to Missouri (19–6, 8-5 SEC) at home, 86–85, following a clutch shot from senior guard DeAndre Gholston in the closing seconds. With the Vols up by two points with 4.2 seconds left in regulation, Gholston secured the inbounds pass and took off down the floor before raising up for a shot just past mid-court.
The desperation attempt proved true as the ball sailed through the net right as the clock reached double zeroes, plunging the Vols and their fans into a state of disbelief just days after the program lost to Vanderbilt on the road in similar fashion on Feb. 8.
Gholston’s nearly half-court heave to break the hearts of Tennessee fans followed a missed Vols opportunity to ice the game at the free-throw line on the previous possession. Senior guard Santiago Vescovi missed his first attempt and, after shooting his second, freshman forward Tobe Awaka committed a lane violation that resulted in a costly Tennessee turnover.
Vescovi’s miss at the charity stripe and the buzzer-beating dagger hearkened back to the shocking end to the Vols’ 66–65 loss to another SEC rival in the Commodores. Vescovi missed the front end of a one-and-one with eight seconds to play, setting Vanderbilt up to get the rebound and call a timeout with Tennessee up 65–63.
From there, the Commodores inbounded the ball to senior guard Ezra Manjon, who penetrated to the rim and kicked it out to junior guard Tyrin Lawrence in the corner for the game-winning three.
After suffering back-to-back losses on nearly identical sequences, Tennessee and coach Rick Barnes will have to re-group quick in hopes of staying afloat in the rankings after beginning the month ranked No. 2 in the country.
Saturday’s defeat marked the Vols’ third loss in four games, a slump that started their descent down the AP poll following a Feb. 1 loss to Florida. The program will face another stiff challenge in their next game on Feb. 15 when they welcome No. 3 Alabama (22–3, 12–0 SEC) to Knoxville.
