By Jimmy Hyams
It has been an historic season for Tennessee men’s basketball.
The Vols have won the school’s seventh SEC regular-season title (five were ties) under the current format. (UT won three prior to 1953 when the regular-season champ was decided by the SEC Tournament.)
They have won at least 23 games for just the seventh time in school history. Only four teams have won at least 25 games (2000, 2006, 2008, 2010).
And they couldn’t have been a bigger underdog. A preseason SEC media pick to finish 13th – ahead of only LSU – UT went 13-5 in conference play after an 0-2 start.
The Vols were No. 8 in the NCAA RPI before beating Georgia on Saturday and had the nation’s No. 4 strength of schedule, according to one service.
It seems fitting that UT’s final regular-season AP ranking of 13 equals the SEC media pick of 13 in the league.
Two other UT teams come to mind as for as overachieving – based on preseason projections.
Cuonzo Martin’s first team at Tennessee was picked 11th in the SEC. It earned a No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament, beating Florida twice, upset defending national champion UConn and went 19-15.
After UT went 14-17 in Buzz Peterson’s final year, Bruce Pearl guided those same players to a 22-8 record, 12-4 in the SEC and a tie for first in the East Division.
And this is vindication for coach Rick Barnes, who will tell you he doesn’t need it.
Texas fired Barnes three years ago, feeling he has lost his fastball. In three years at UT, Barnes is 54-42 with an SEC title. The guy that replaced Barnes at Texas, the hot, up-and-comer Shaka Smart, is 49-48 and struggling this year at 18-13 after going 11-22 last year. Smart is making $3 million a year. By the way, Barnes won 60 games in his last three years at Texas.
Here are some interesting numbers about Tennessee this season:
Barnes wanted to go 8-2 against the five SEC teams the Vols played twice. UT went 9-1, sweeping Kentucky, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and South Carolina and splitting with Georgia.
Tennessee outscored Georgia 32-19 in the second half. It marked the third time in four games and the seventh time this season UT held an opponent to 20 or fewer points in a half.
Kyle Alexander shot a remarkable 74.5 percent from the field (38 of 51) in SEC play. He started league play by making 21 of his first 22 shots before his “slump.’’
Lamonte Turner shot a sizzling 94 percent from the free throw line (47 of 50) in SEC player. Jordan Bone shot 85 percent (17 of 20). Thus that duo hit 64 of 70 free throws in league play.
In SEC games, UT shot 76.7 percent from the foul line, opponents 69.6. Free throw accuracy was the difference in UT’s win over Georgia (17 of 18 v. 9 of 15).
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