33 Hours Later...

It's currently 2:33 in the am and I am sitting in the basement of my dorm finding ways to distract myself from studying for my nutrition exam tomorrow. Here we go.

While UT will remain in the top spot until the polls are updated Sunday night, in reality their reign as the nation's top collegiate team lasted all of 33 hours. I still haven't had time to fully digest the magnitude of tonight's win. The atmosphere was absolutely electric and the two teams left it all out on the floor. I was firmly planted in my usual spot in the student section about 4 rows back right next to the band over an hour and a half before tip off. It took all of 20 minutes after I arrived for the entire section to fill up. I could tell it was going to be one of those nights when Chris Lofton emerged from the tunnel to warm up and was soundly booed by the entire student section for a solid 5 minutes.
After patiently waiting tip off finally arrived and so began 40 minutes of some of the most hard-fought basketball I have ever witnessed. Unfortunately, the officials did not receive the memo that this game was going to be physical, and at the finally tally 53 personal fouls were issued to players and Bruce Pearl even got T'd up. Honestly, when has Red ever fouled out of a game?
I don't want to get to far into this post without congratulating Tennessee and Bruce Pearl. This is a team that went into The Fedex Forum on Saturday night and beat the then #1 Memphis Tigers in the grind it out type of game that separates the men from the boys. I bought in. As big as a Vandy fan as I am (and that's a pretty big one) I'm not stupid. I was holding out for a miracle, but I really didn't think we stood a chance. So when we jumped out to a quick lead and punched UT in the mouth my fears began to subside. Unfortunately I came crashing back to earth when A.J. Ogilvy was whistled for 3 fouls in the early going of the first half. I was convinced that A.J.'s presence down low was crucial to our success in this game.
There were several key elements of UT's game with Memphis that really stood out to me. And when I say they stood out to me I really mean scared me senseless.

1. Tyler Smith is an absolute beast.
2. J.P. Prince is the most overlooked player on a deep UT squad.
3. Wayne Chism may look goofy, but when he asserts himself he's one hell of a player

I used these three reasons to convince myself that Vandy really stood no realistic chance in this game. Luckily, they didn't take my advice and actually played the game. As for my three elements, here's how they shook out in my estimation

1. Tyler Smith had the flu and still pulled down 17 boards (are you serious?!) but only scored 11 points. The only other Vol in double figures was Chris Lofton with 25 (can't wait till his eligibility is up)
2. J.P. Prince played 18 minutes and scored 8 points. At least he's starting to hit his free throws.
3. Chism was a ghost. Got into foul trouble early and ended up with 4 points.

That kind of offensive production just isn't going to get it done. The Vols were clearly still suffering the effects of their game Saturday night, but Vandy's defense was stifling. The combination of the two lead the Vols to shoot a woeful 32% from the field. Not great. I believe Bruce Pearl put it best. "Pitiful"

My thoughts on tonight's performance by the Dores:

1. Shan Foster- What else can be said about this guy. 32 points on 13 shots in the biggest game in the program's history on ESPN. I lack the words to describe how much he means to this team.
2. Jermaine Beal- Is really coming on as a third scoring threat for the Dores outside of Foster and Ogilvy. Dropped 17 points tonight and more importantly NO turnovers. The Dores had 8 as a team, and that my friends is the key statistic from tonight's game.
3. Jamie Graham- HOLY CRAP THAT KID CAN JUMP. Stallings was gushing about him in the post game press conference. Looks like we'll be seeing more of him in upcoming games.

I'll post more tomorrow when I've had time to collect myself.