KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee placed five players in double figures, including a spirit-lifting 10 points and seven rebounds from seldom-used Dwight Miller, and turned back Mississippi, 73-60, Wednesday night before 17,079 in Thompson-Boling Arena.
With the victory, the Vols (15-13, 7-6) retained a share of fourth place in the Southeastern Conference with LSU (16-10, 6-6), which defeated Georgia, 61-53, in Baton Rouge.
Alabama (17-9, 6-6) can stay in that group with a win against Arkansas on Thursday night.
The Vols, rebounding from a demoralizing loss at Alabama on Saturday that snapped a four-game winning streak, also got a strong 18-point, 11-rebound effort from hot-shooting Jeronne Maymon, who has hit 15 of 18 field goal attempts in his last three games, while Jordan McRae added 16 points and Trae Golden 11.
“I am a really good rebounder,” said Maymon, who has hit 15 of 18 field goal-attempts in the last three games. “I just try to get position early, drive them out of (the post) as best I can and go get the ball with two hands. We definitely take pride in our rebounding.”
Tennessee outrebounded Ole Miss, 40-28.
“They killed us on the glass,” Rebels coach Andy Kennedy said, “which has become a recurring theme.”
Ole Miss was led by Terrance Henry’s 15 points. Murphy Holloway scored 13 points, but only four in the second half, and Nick Williams and Jelan Kendrick added 11 and 10, respectively.
With so many players making sizable contributions, Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin praised his team rebound from the costly road loss to the Crimson Tide.
“I thought our guys did a good job bouncing back,” Martin said. “Jordan and Dwight did a great job coming off the bench and giving us energy and enthusiasm. I thought that was great.”
Kennedy felt that Maymon was the key to Tennessee’s win.
“Dominant is the key word,” he said of the 6-foot-7-inch Maymon, the Vols’ second-leading scorer on the season. “He was the difference in the game. He did what he wanted, when he wanted. Eighteen and 11 on 6-of-7 shooting is about as efficient as you can be.”
But Miller’s role cannot be understated.
Miller, a junior from Nassau, Bahamas, put a spark in the Vols with seven straight points, including a 3-pointer to cap an 11-0 run in the first half that sliced the Rebels’ 13-point lead to two.
“He gave us a huge lift,” Golden said of Miller. “He’s fearless and he’s not scared to shoot the ball. That’s what we definitely needed. He was a big spark for us.”
The Rebels came out on fire and Terrance Henry scored eight of their first 15 points while the Vols were playing lethargic and well on their way to 10 first-half turnovers.
“I wasn’t worried,” Golden said of the Vols’ early deficit. “I knew that if we stuck to our game plan, we’d be able to chip away at it and that’s what we were able to do.”
That’s when Miller, who scored only 40 points in 17 previous appearances this season, took advantage of rare extended playing time and lit Tennessee’s fuse with his quick-strike offense.
“Honestly, not playing one of the toughest things I’ve gone through,” said the 6-8, 240-pound Miller, a transfer from Pittsburgh via Midland (Texas) Junior College. “You just don’t want to sit there and when you’re not playing you have to take a look at yourself. My goal is to start a Division I basketball game somewhere.”
More play like he turned in Wednesday and that might happen – at Tennessee.
“The one thing I told Dwight, and we talk about it all the time, is to just stick with it and continue to work,” Martin said. “This is a result of him consistently working and not giving up. It paid off for him, and I’m happy to see that for him.”
Kennedy was as shocked as anyone with Miller’s contribution to the Vols’ victory.
“This guy Dwight Miller – he wasn’t one of the first two or three names we had talked about,” Kennedy said. “Tonight, are you kidding me? Ten points and seven rebounds, came out and hit two 3s. I thought he settled them in and made some big shots.”
A few minutes later, the Vols took their first lead at 19-17 on McRae’s three-point play.
The Rebels (15-12, 5-8 SEC) managed a shaky 31-30 halftime lead, but Tennessee borrowed a piece of their first-half game plan to turn things round.
Jarnell Stokes started a decisive 17-6 run with a driving layup and McRae capped it with a monster slam off a Maymon assist that brought a thunderous response from the partisan crowd. The play pushed Tennessee’s lead to 47-37 with 11:20 remaining.
“I knew he (McRae) was capable of doing it,” Martin said. “Once again, he’s a guy who’s long, but you didn’t see a lot of those dunks earlier because his approach wasn’t there. Because he attacks with such an aggressive mind in practice, it carries over into games.”
Jarvis Summers nailed a 3 that whittled the Rebels’ deficit to 50-42, but McRae dropped in a layup and Maymon and Tatum each hit two free throws and the Vols were cruising at 56-42.
Tennessee’s cushion was still 10 after Stokes’ baby hook dropped through the net with 6:02 on the clock, but 21 seconds later Williams drained a 3 and Ole Miss was back within 60-53.
Stokes’ bucket was the last field goal Tennessee made until Stokes’ tap-in with 2:35 left.
Down the stretch, the Vols made 8-of-12 free throws down the stretch, Maymon added a field goal with 14.6 seconds remaining and that was enough to hand Ole Miss its sixth loss in seven SEC road tests this season.
“Our team is offensively challenged,” Kennedy said, “so we have to manufacture points off the offensive glass and they didn’t allow us to do that. They didn’t allow us any angles.”
Another thing Tennessee did to turn the game was to cut down on turnovers.
The Vols committed just one ballhandling miscue in the final 20 minutes.
“We just settled down and made plays,” Martin said. “I thought we did a good job in the second half of defending as a team with them passing, cutting and moving.”
Tennessee now has won 17 of the past 23 games against Ole Miss and leads the overall series, 69-38. The Vols have won 10 straight and are 38-10 in Knoxville against the Rebels.
BOXSCORE
Tennessee 73, Mississippi 60
Mississippi (15-12)
Terrance Henry 6-11 2-2 15, Murphy Holloway 6-9 1-4 13, Demarco Cox 2-4 0-0 4, Nick Williams 5-11 0-0 11, Jarvis Summers 3-9 0-1 7, LaDarius White 0-1 0-0 0, Maurice Aniefiok 0-2 0-0 0, Reginald Buckner 0-1 0-0 0, Will Norman 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Jelan Kendrick 3-7 4-5 10 . Total: 25-56 7-12 60.
Tennessee (15-13)
Jarnell Stokes 4-7 0-1 8, Jeronne Maymon 6-7 6-8 18, Trae Golden 3-7 4-4 11, Skylar McBee 0-3 0-0 0, Cameron Tatum 3-7 2-2 10, Yemi Makanjuola 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Richardson 0-3 0-0 0, Dwight Miller 4-8 0-2 10, Jordan McRae 5-13 6-9 16. Total: 25-56 18-26 73.
Mississippi 31 29 – 60
Tennessee 30 43 – 73
3-point goals: Mississippi 3-11 (Henry 1-3, Williams 1-3, Summers 1-3, White 0-1, Kendrick 0-1); Tennessee 5-17 (Golden 1-3, McBee 0-3, Tatum 2-5, Miller 2-3, McRae 0-3).
Fouled out: Mississippi – Holloway; Tennessee – None.
Rebounds: Mississippi 28 (Williams 6); Tennessee 40 (Maymon 11).
Assists: Mississippi 11 (Summers 4); Tennessee 15 (Golden 5).
Total fouls: Mississippi 22; Tennessee 10.
Technical fouls: Mississippi – None; Tennessee – None.
Attendance: 17,079.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at fleminglrry@aol.com)