I'll never forget when Tennessee basketball went Hog Wild on Arkansas | Mike Strange
Tennessee’s men head to Arkansas this week, a locale where basketball success has been scarce. Just four wins in 16 visits.
The first one, though, I’ll never forget. It ranks as one of the most unexpected Tennessee wins I ever saw.
It happened 31 years ago this week.
This was 1993, Arkansas’ first season in the SEC as expansion mates with South Carolina. The Vols had played Arkansas in football in the fall, but in Little Rock. So this was Tennessee’s first major-sport conference visit to Fayetteville, at the time the most remote outpost in the league.
Nashville sportswriter David Climer and I found our way to old Barnhill Arena, where the Razorbacks almost always vanquished visitors. Coach Nolan Richardson’s teams were athletic and aggressive, known for the “Forty Minutes of Hell” defensive pressure.
By mid-February it was clear Tennessee’s season was a disappointment. Barring an SEC tournament miracle, senior Allan Houston was going to leave having never played in the Big Dance. The Vols were 2-7 in SEC play, had lost seven of their previous eight games.
That night in Barnhill, it was 40 minutes of Tennessee heaven. The Vols went wire-to-wire for a 101-91 upset of the 13th-ranked Razorbacks.
You’d think Houston must have gone for 30. At least. Nope, only 13. He took just eight shots.
Lang Wiseman and LaMarcus Golden played the game of their lives.
Wiseman scored 22 of his 24 points in the first half, when he hit six of seven 3-pointers.
Golden scored 22 and rounded up 11 rebounds. Corey Allen scored 18 points. Chris Brand chipped in 11 points, a rare double-figures contribution from him.
Tennessee shot 61 percent from the 3-point arc and lived at the stripe, sinking 26 of 33 free throw attempts – 20 more than the home team attempted.
Context makes that road win even more remarkable. The Vols took it to an Arkansas roster that in a year’s time would win the 1994 national title: Corliss Williamson, Scotty Thurman, Clint McDaniel, Corey Beck.
I remember coach Wade Houston describing the night as a “golden moment,” and he was right. There just weren’t enough of them on his watch.
But there was another one eight days later. Allan Houston and Allen executed a four-point possession in the final 4.9 seconds to stun No. 2 Kentucky, 78-77, in Knoxville.
Two of the most surprising wins I ever covered, barely a week apart.
Here’s another.
Early in the 2002-03 season, Buzz Peterson’s Vols played Georgia Tech in Atlanta at Philips Arena. Both teams were decent, neither great.
Tennessee trailed 62-49 late. Start the bus.
But wait. The Vols rallied. Still, with 17 seconds left, future NBA star Chris Bosh made free throws for a 68-65 Tech lead.
The Jackets fouled Jon Higgins with 1.4 seconds left. Higgins made the first and tried to miss the second – hoping for a teammate to rebound and score. But the second try banked in. Still down, 68-67.
Tennessee fouled B.J. Elder with .5 second on the clock. He missed the first but made the second. 69-67, Tech. Miracle time.
Ron Slay inbounded the ball, ran the baseline and fired a strike to Higgins, who caught and launched as he crossed the midcourt stripe.
Nothing but net. Vols win, 70-69.
Mike Strange is a former writer for the News Sentinel. He currently writes a weekly sports column for Shopper News.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: When Tennessee basketball went Hog Wild on Arkansas | Mike Strange
