Already down four players and with two more starters on the bench on the verge of fouling out, Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl literally had no alternative.
In the middle of the second half of a tightly contested game against top-ranked and unbeaten Kansas, Pearl essentially threw his scout team onto the floor.
He may as well have thrown in the towel.
There was Skylar McBee, the kid from Knoxville who opted to pay to walk-on at Tennessee instead of taking a scholarship at Marshall, Santa Clara or Chattanooga.
Next to him was the coaches’ son, Steven Pearl, who had logged just 21 minutes all year long and was referred to by one individual in the Tennessee camp as the “human victory cigar.”
And then there was Southern Illinois cast-off Josh Bone, a third walk-on who just became eligible a couple weeks ago and had just 20 minutes under his belt as a Vol.
Bone was forced to run the team for a stretch and given the unenviable task of attempting to contain All-American candidate Sherron Collins, Pearl was in the post, giving up nearly half a foot in inches and about 20 pounds to Kansas power forward Markieff Morris.
And there was McBee draining the game’s critical shot, a double-clutch 3-pointer from the left wing as the clock shot sounded with 35 seconds left.
"I wasn’t nervous,” Tennessee’s Scotty Hopson said as he watched McBee release the ball with the Vols holding a 71-68 advantage.
I am calling bull on that.
Few gave the Vols a fighting chance, yet after the game, somehow, it was Pearl who was beaming as he received a congratulatory call from Tennessee signee Tobias Harris in the hallway.
Not after Pearl booted what was the face of the program, senior Tyler Smith, off the team just days earlier after he and three of his teammates were caught on New Year’s Day with a pair of handguns, a bag of marijuana and an open bottle of alcohol in a rental car.
Not after he suspended the other three – starter Cameron Tatum and key reserves Brian Williams and Melvin Goins – indefinitely for their roles in the incident.
“It was nice to do something positive here,” Pearl said after the 76-68 victory.
Tennessee went into the game with six scholarship players and three walk-ons against what nearly everyone had agreed is the No. 1 team in the nation (although FOXSports.com went with Texas).
Things were so bad for Pearl that even junior guard Michael Hubert, yet another walk-on, had surgery for a torn ACL on Friday.
But the Vols forced Kansas into becoming a perimeter-shooting club, and the Jayhawks couldn’t make shots – or defend.
Tennessee’s maligned point guard, Bobby Maze, was the top point guard on the floor and not Kansas’ Sherron Collins, who is expected to be a first-round pick in June’s NBA Draft.
Scotty Hopson was the most talented and productive wing player and not Xavier Henry, Kansas’ hyped freshman who was invisible for the majority of the game.
“From a toughness and a competitive standpoint, we didn’t deserve it,” Kansas coach Bill Self said after the game. “They just outplayed us.”
Tennessee big man Wayne Chism was on the team that knocked off No. 1 Memphis two years ago on the road, but the Vols’ big man, who logged just 19 minutes due to foul trouble, said this victory has no peer because of the adversity he and his teammates have endured since the turn of the New Year.
“This one is even better because we were down four guys,” Chism said.
McBee, Bone and Pearl combined to play 45 minutes in the victory, and Renaldo Wooldridge and freshman big man Kenny Hall – both of which thought long and hard about leaving the program while buried on the bench earlier this year – filled crucial roles.
Wooldridge was 4-for-6 from beyond the arc and hauled down eight rebounds, while Hall battled one of the nation’s top big men for 23 minutes.
Tyler Smith’s career is over with the Vols, and the future of the other three players remains uncertain – although sources indicate that Tatum and Goins will likely be reinstated soon.
“I love Tyler like a brother, and it’s hard to see him leave after what he’s done for this program,” Maze said. “But life moves on, and we realize we have to move forward with what we have.”
Maze has moved on with arguably the game of his life, scoring 16 points, dishing out eight assists and grabbing seven rebounds with just a pair of turnovers in 33 minutes.
Never shy, Maze said now that he’s not splitting time with someone else will allow him to play with more freedom.
“It’s hard when you keep having to come in and out of the game,” Maze said. “Look at Renaldo. He played 34 minutes and looked like an NBA player. I’m a better player and so is Scotty and Renaldo. You know you can make a mistake and still be alright.”
Right now no one can attest to that like Pearl and the Vols.
