If you read only one thing about the Vols today . . .

. . . make it Will’s post about the Vols basketball team putting it all together at just the right time.

Vols hoops dominates Mississippi State

So yeah, Tennessee basketball put all of the pieces together (same link as above) and played excellent basketball against a Mississippi State Bulldogs team fighting to stay on the bubble and beat them 76-54. It must have been the shoes.

The player of the game once again was Admiral Schofield, whom Wes Rucker called the Magnolia State Manimal. That’s appropriate, as Schofield flexed his entire skill set last night, including his muscle:


But State coach Ben Howland credits not just Schofield but also Grant Williams and says Tennessee is hard to beat partly because “they have those two bulls.”

And the rest of the guys are really beginning to come into their own as well, including Yves Pons. By the way, can you imagine having to do an interview with media while you’re still learning the language? Here, this will help you imagine that. (That’s a video of Pons’ post-game interview, which I would have embedded but for the auto-play feature I couldn’t turn off. But be sure to watch it.)

After that, this happened:

Also, Arkansas beat Auburn last night, so the Vols are now tied for first in the SEC with one game remaining. Tennessee has Georgia at home Saturday, while Auburn has South Carolina at home.

Highlights:

And post-game commentary from the SEC Network:

And wonder of wonders, Rick Barnes was again actually saying nice things about his team after the game:

Maybe it’s just that he’s finally satisfied that his players are going to evaluate and criticize themselves now (this video also features Schofield talking about peanut butter and jelly):

Other Vols tidbits

The Vols baseball team beat Middle Tennessee 5-4 yesterday.

Trevor Daniel, Rashaan Gaulden, John Kelly, and Kahlil McKenzie are all scheduled to participate in the NFL Combine this week.

VFL Scotty Hopson has signed a 10-day contract with the Dallas Mavericks.

ESPN’s Chris Low has a really good in-depth feature on Jeremy Pruitt’s challenge of rebuilding the Vols football team.