It took an extended driving layup by loads of site visitors on the buzzer, however Jordan Gainey saved the day for Tennessee on Saturday night time.
Gainey lifted top-ranked Tennessee to a surprising 66-64 win over Illinois on the State Farm Center in Champaign. The Volunteers, with about 5 seconds left on the clock and the sport tied, had one final probability at a shot earlier than additional time in what was a fantastic non-conference battle. Gainey, after catching the inbounds cross, instantly sprinted up the courtroom and went proper for the ring.
After touring the total size of the ground, Gainey by some means fought by everybody and obtained the layup in earlier than the buzzer sounded, which sparked an enormous celebration from the Vols and silenced the Illini crowd.
That pushed the Volunteers to an ideal 10-0, which marked their greatest begin because the 1999-2000 marketing campaign.
The sport was tight the whole approach Saturday, however Tennessee each fell into foul bother after which largely shut down offensively when it mattered most. The Volunteers scored simply after the seven-minute mark of the second half off a Jahmai Mashack layup, after which didn’t make one other area objective for the subsequent 5 minutes to permit the Illini to hold in there.
Tennessee, after falling down by three at its peak, lastly tied the sport again up with a Gainey 3-pointer with simply greater than two minutes left. That arrange an extended back-and-forth till the ultimate seconds.
While Illinois had an opportunity to seal the deal in regulation, Kasparas Jakucionis break up free throws after drawing a foul that would have received them the sport. Instead, that left the rating tied and arrange Gainey’s game-winner.
Jakucionis led Illinois with 22 factors and three rebounds on Saturday. Kylan Boswell completed with 10 factors and 7 rebounds, and Tre White added 11 factors. They shot simply 4-of-23 from the 3-point line as a bunch.
Illinois dropped to 7-3 with the loss, which marked its second in its final three video games. The Illini beat No. 20 Wisconsin on Wednesday after dropping a sport to Northwestern final week. They’ll tackle Missouri subsequent Sunday.
Gainey completed with a team-high 23 factors off the bench whereas capturing 6-of-14 from the sphere, which was his greatest output since touchdown in Knoxville. The senior, who transferred in from South Carolina Upstate earlier than final season began, entered Saturday’s sport averaging simply 10.3 factors per sport.
Chaz Lanier added 17 factors for the Vols, and Igor Milicic completed with seven factors and 14 rebounds. Tennessee has three video games left on its schedule earlier than SEC play begins Jan. 4, beginning with Western Carolina on Tuesday. While it’s nonetheless early, Rick Barnes’ group in Tennessee — even with out star Dalton Knecht round this fall — appears greater than able to hanging with Alabama within the SEC this season. And for now, the Vols will get to retain their No. 1 rating for an additional week.
