Vols Beat Georgia 86-85 in Overtime to Give Coach Barnes His 850th Career Victory

(utsports.com)– The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team logged its second road win in five days with an 86-65 overtime decision Wednesday night at Georgia.

Tennessee (14-6, 4-3 SEC) trailed by six at halftime at Stegeman Coliseum, but its stellar second-half shooting provided head coach Rick Barnes the 850th victory of his illustrious 39-year career. Senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie paced the victors with 21 points in his third straight 20-point performance.

After neither side led by greater than four in the opening 10 minutes, Georgia (16-5, 4-4 SEC) went on a 13-6 run over 4:02 to build a seven-point lead, 30-23, with 6:03 on the first-half clock. It was 6-of-12 from 3-point range at that time, including a 4-of-5 mark from sophomore forward Kanon Catchings, who already had 14 points.

The Volunteers, 74 seconds before the break, cut the margin to four, but Georgia junior guard Marcus Millender hit a floater to beat the halftime buzzer and make it 34-28 through 20 minutes. After a 5-of-8 start from the floor, Tennessee shot just 6-of-27 the rest of the stanza to close it at 11-of-35 (31.4 percent), including 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from deep. However, it grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and conceded only three, leading to a 14-0 edge in second-chance points.

Early in the second session, Tennessee went on a 19-10 run in 4:53 that included a trio of 3-pointers and six consecutive makes from the floor to pull ahead, 53-51, with 11:56 to go. The Volunteers extended the hot field-goal shooting to an 9-of-10 stretch, as they built a 66-60 edge with 6:51 left.

The advantage remained at six with fewer than four minutes to play, but Georgia scored five points in 38 seconds to cut the margin to one, 70-69, with 3:07 remaining. The two sides split the next six points, making it 73-72 with 1:08 on the clock.

Neither team scored until there were 19 seconds to play, when Gillespie added a point from the line, but the Millender made a layup with 3.4 left to tie it at 74, the first time the Volunteers did not lead since the 8:58 mark. Gillespie’s runner at the other end rattled out, sending the game to overtime.

The two sides exchanged the first four points of the extra frame, but Tennessee—buoyed by a corner 3-pointer from freshman forward Nate Ament—tallied the next six to go up, 82-76, with 2:26 left. Georgia scored the next four to get within two at the 1:17 mark, but the Volunteers scored the ensuing three at the line to go up by five 24.5 ticks remaining.

Millender hit a 3-pointer with 16.8 seconds to go and senior forward Felix Okpara made one free throw 1.1 seconds later, putting Tennessee back up by three, 86-83. At the other end, Millender drove to the rim and made a layup in the final second, but it was not enough, as Tennessee earned the road result.

Gillespie, who shot 4-of-11 from 3-point range, added a game-best six assists to his team-leading point total. Ament notched 19 points, six rebounds and three assists, plus a 2-of-5 long-range ledger.

Redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella tied the second-highest point total of his career with 17, five of which came in overtime. He went 8-of-12 from the field to tie for his second-most makes as a collegian. The Scarborough, Maine, native pulled down nine rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end.

Sophomore guard Bishop Boswell tied a career high with 13 points, finishing 2-of-3 from deep and 5-of-6 at the line. He grabbed 10 rebounds, one shy of his career best, to amass his second double-double.

Catchings led all scorers with 22 points for Georgia, but had just eight points and no 3-pointers in the final 31 minutes. He went 8-of-14 from the field and paced the Bulldogs with seven rebounds.

Millender scored 19 points on an 8-of-10 field-goal clip, adding a team-high four assists. Junior guard Jordan Ross chipped in 10 points for the home team.

Tennessee ended the night with a dominant 26-7 margin on the offensive glass, setting a new season best in offensive rebounds. Two Volunteers—Estrella and senior forward Felix Okpara—had as many individually as Georgia did as a team.

That success led to a 24-4 advantage in second-chance points to go along with a 39.1 percent (9-of-23) register from beyond the arc.

The Volunteers now return to Knoxville, Tenn., for their first game at Food City Center in two weeks, as they are slated to host Auburn in a Saturday night affair set for an 8:30 p.m. tipoff, live on ESPN.