Tennessee Knocks Off No. 7 Kentucky

Tennessee’s latest nail-biter ended up being their biggest victory under first-year Coach Buzz Peterson.

Marcus Haislip scored 24 points, including the game-winning basket with 18 seconds left in overtime, to lift the Volunteers past No. 7 Kentucky, 76-74, in a Southeastern Conference game Wednesday night at Knoxville, Tenn.

The Volunteers (12-10, 5-4) had been 0-7 in games decided by five points or less, but Tennessee has used those heartbreaking experiences to pull off close victories against Syracuse, Louisiana State, Vanderbilt and the Wildcats (15-6, 5-4).

“I told them late in the game, ‘We are going to win,’” Peterson said.

It didn’t look like much of a cliffhanger at the beginning, as Kentucky led until midway through the second half before needing a three-point basket to send the game into overtime.

In overtime, Kentucky went ahead, 74-72, on a basket by Chuck Hayes with 2:05 left. Tennessee’s Thaydeus Holden then made two from the line to tie the score with 50 seconds to go.

Tayshaun Prince, who finished with 22 points for Kentucky, lost the ball out of bounds on the next possession, and Haislip put in his own missed shot at the other end for the lead.

Kentucky got the ball and looked disorganized when Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith called a timeout with 3.3 seconds left.

“We wanted to push it up,” Smith said. “It looked like we took forever to get it to the frontcourt. There was some indecision on what we wanted to do.”

After seeing the offense Kentucky put on the court, Peterson then called another timeout.

When play resumed, all the Volunteers had to do was prevent another basket. They did.

Prince’s three-point try missed at the buzzer and Tennessee students and fans spilled onto the court to celebrate.

No. 4 Oklahoma 70, Baylor 57--The Sooners (18-3, 7-2 in Big 12) shook off a sluggish first-half performance that included a six-minute scoring drought at Norman, Okla., to defeat the Bears (13-9, 3-6) for the 14th consecutive time.

Baylor has not beaten the Sooners since 1977-78, when current Bears coach Dave Bliss was head coach at Oklahoma.

No. 5 Alabama 79, Mississippi 59--Erwin Dudley had 22 points and 10 rebounds at Tuscaloosa, Ala., as the Crimson Tide (20-3, 8-1 in Southeastern Conference) matched their best start in 25 years.

Alabama has a 60-8 series lead over the Rebels (17-6, 6-4) in games at Tuscaloosa.

No. 6 Cincinnati 85, Charlotte 66--Leonard Stokes scored 30 points and Steve Logan added 24 at Charlotte, N.C., as the Bearcats (21-2, 9-1 in Conference USA) snapped the 49ers’ seven-game winning streak.

Cincinnati never trailed and knocked Charlotte (14-6, 8-2) out of a three-way tie for first place in the American Division.

North Carolina State 85, No. 10 Virginia 68--Scooter Sherrill scored a career-high 20 points off the bench at Raleigh, N.C., as the Wolfpack (17-6, 6-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference) swept the Cavaliers (14-6, 4-5) in the regular season for the first time since 1987-88.

Virginia (14-6, 4-5) dropped its in a row.

No. 14 Oklahoma State 64, No. 24 Texas Tech 62--The Cowboys (18-5, 5-5 in Big 12), after trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, rallied at Stillwater, Okla., and defeated the Red Raiders (16-5, 5-4) on Terrence Crawford’s putback with 5.3 seconds left.

Wisconsin 94, No. 16 Ohio State 92--Devin Harris made five free throws over the final 19 seconds of overtime as the Badgers (13-11, 6-5 in Big Ten) edged the Buckeyes (17-4, 8-2) at Madison, Wis.

Ohio State fell into a first-pace tie in the conference race with Indiana.

No. 17 Georgia 86, Mississippi State 68--Steve Thomas had 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Bulldogs (18-5, 7-3 in Southeastern Conference) scored their first victory at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss., in 11 years.

Mississippi State (17-6, 4-5) also had its nine-game home winning streak end.

No. 18 Marquette 70, East Carolina 58-- Dwyane Wade scored 24 points as the Golden Eagles (20-3, 9-1 Conference USA) won their ninth consecutive game.

East Carolina (8-14, 2-8) lost its 14th consecutive road game.

No. 19 Wake Forest 90, North Carolina 66--Josh Howard scored 25 points at Winston-Salem, N.C., as the Deamon Deacons (17-6, 7-3 in ACC) swept the season series from the Tar Heels (6-14, 2-8) for the first time since the 1969-70 season.

No. 22 Missouri 76, Iowa State 73--Kareem Rush scored 23 of his 27 points in the second half at the Tigers (17-6, 6-3 in Big 12) held off the Cyclones (9-15, 1-5) at Columbia, Mo.