Tennessee 102, Memphis 92: Admiral Schofield dominates in the renewed rivalry

Tennessee and Memphis haven’t met on the basketball court since 2013, but it didn’t take long for the rivalry to re-heat. The Vols seized control early, didn’t falter when the Tigers threatened to rally or when the refs got whistle happy, and ultimately cruised to a high-scoring 102-92 victory over the cross-state rivals Saturday afternoon. The game even featured some late drama in the form of offsetting technicals just to make sure the stage is set for next year’s meeting at Thompson-Boling.

The Vols exploded out of the gate, with Kyle Alexander winning the tip and immediately racing to the basket for a dunk on a quick assist from Grant Williams. From there, the Vols piled up the points with the Tigers stuck on 5, and by the time the clock read 15:29, Tennessee had a 19-5 lead. They kept what was essentially a 10-point cushion the rest of the way.

That’s not to say that things didn’t get interesting, as UT had to both weather a whistle storm and fend off the increasingly pesky Tigers. The first sign of trouble was Jordan Bone getting two fouls in the first two-and-a-half minutes, and the foul situation just worsened for both teams from there. It was like the officials just got new whistles for Christmas or something. In all, there were 57 fouls in the game, plus three technicals. At one point, you got the feeling that the players were as focused on selling fouls to the officials as they were executing their plays. I’ve never seen so many flops in such a short time span. Remarkably, only one player — Memphis’ Tyler Harris — actually fouled out of the game, as the refs did at least seem content to share the misery equally.

To complicate matters, Memphis really turned up the pressure as the game went on, and they were marginally successful at transforming the game into one of havoc and chaos. Tennessee committed 18 turnovers to the Tigers’ 9. And with the trigger happy officials watching for any opportunity to use their new toys, the usually-stifling Vols’ defense had real trouble keeping Memphis’ Kyvon Davenport off the scoreboard. At one point in the game, Davenport had 18 points in a row for the Tigers.

But none of that was sufficient to derail a focused Tennessee team. Once again, they rode the broad shoulders of Admiral Schofield, who netted another double-double with 29 points and 11 rebounds. He was 8-12 from the field, 4-8 from three, and a perfect 9-9 from the free throw line.

Williams and Bone played the supporting roles this afternoon, adding 19 and 17 points, respectively. Bone was 11-12 at the free throw line.

Jordan Bowden and Kyle Alexander also hit double digits in points, and at one point Alexander had an amazing stretch during which he blocked a three-point attempt, hit a three-pointer himself, and drew a charge on three consecutive possessions. He may not have ever cooled off if it weren’t for a Bone-to-Bowden alley-oop on the following possession.

In all, this was a terrific game for the Vols. They could have been complacent or otherwise lackadaisical after the big win over No. 1 Gonzaga last week, but they came out, seized control early, and never let go.

The cherry on top was that the game had that good old-fashioned rivalry feel to it when tempers flared as destiny settled in on the Tigers. This team is always fun to watch, but especially so against teams you love to beat.