1. That's the best win of the season. UT took their best punch and managed to remain standing. Marquette faced the same scenario earlier this season and LSU went on to run them out of the building. 2. Trae Golden would not be denied down the stretch. He exorcised the demons of previous late game failures and made the games biggest plays coming down the stretch. 3. In hindsight, Tennessee should have pursued Anthony Hickey more doggedly. The idea of him at the point with Golden and Jordan McRae on the wings is one with great possibilities. 4. Jarnell Stokes showed how truly talented he is tonight. LSU's frontcourt is big, deep, and talented. Stokes scored at will and held his own against that group. Imagine what he may become once he gets in really good shape and learns some more post moves. 5. Jeronne Maymon is always going to struggle against bigger, more athletic players when he can't simply bully them in the post. That's just a limitation he has. It didn't prevent him from finding a way to be a key cog in UT's win. 6. Northwestern is like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. They just keep finding new and heartbreaking ways to lose to the upper echelon of the Big Ten. They'll be one of the most intriguing stories come Selection Sunday. 7. I bet Ben Howland thinks taking the DePaul job two years ago looks like the right play in hindsight. It's hard to imagine a scenario under which he gets it turned around in Westwood. Sooner or later, that job eats up and spits out everyone who holds it. 8. Kudos to Stan Heath. I've been as critical of him as anyone on the planet. He has done a fantastic job of getting South Florida in position to grab an NCAA bid. That deserves credit. 9. Those Cochran Law Firm commercials are awesome. Hezekiah Sistrunk looks like he can handle your lawsuit, then play defensive tackle in the NFL. 10. This team now has a wonderful opportunity Saturday. A win likely wraps up an NIT home game and gives them a chance to play themselves into the NCAA field in New Orleans. The way they kept pushing the rock up the hill tonight til they got the job done was exciting and impressive. Everyone who has a chance should be in TBA Saturday. This team has earned that much.
What do you think we need to make the big dance? Lunardu still doenst have us in next 4 out but we still obviously have work to be done Are we an nit lock? Ill be making the trip from Nashville and be in TBA come sat.
How does a guy like Stokes in this day and age find a hook shot to be his signature move? Was he taught that or just discovered it along the way I wonder?
I'm sure this has been mentioned but a UT win over Vandy and a Florida loss to UK gives us the #2 seed.
I think they're now safely in the NIT field. A win Saturday and one in New Orleans puts them squarely in the NCAA discussion. Two wins in the Big Easy puts them in the field.
Would be huge. Although if I understand things correctly, a 3 is out of the discussion. Win and Kentucky win, and we're the 2 seed (with Vandy at 3). Any other results and we're the 5 seed (with Vandy or Alabama at 4) edit: That's not quite right. We can get a 3 seed with wins by Tennessee, Florida, and Ole Miss. Unlikely, but still a mathematical possibility.
I saw that this year's team has more SEC wins than last year's team, which makes sense if you think about it, but is still kind of mind-blowing.
I'd bet that Vandy's AD (if they had one) could put together a pretty damn convincing remake of the series, "In the Heat of the Night", if needed. I think that Franklin should show out for the black and gold on Saturday - and curse the fans without the benefit of an 8' brick wall and legions of police officers around him.