Tennessee Stuns No. 1 Kansas With Thinned Roster

Sports News - January 11th, 2010 - Written By John

Rock Chalk knocked off.

The Kansas Jayhawks learned just how lonely it can be at the top. There were indications for the past few days that the no. 1 team in the country was starting to hiccup, and the big blow finally came.

The Tennessee Volunteers, with a limited roster due to injuries and suspensions, somehow found a way to give Kansas it's first loss of the College Basketball Season, 76-68, on Sunday.

Scotty Hopson scored 17, and walk-on Skylar McBee hit a crucial three-point shot down the stretch to give the 16th-ranked Volunteers their biggest win of the year. It was the first time Tennessee hosted a top-ranked team.

"It's pretty amazing what chemistry can do when guys put their minds to something and know their backs are up against the wall a little bit and they rally, and they don't quit and they believe in themselves," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said.

The loss opens the door for no. 2 Texas to take over the top spot, and no. 3 Kentucky to move into the second hole. Both are the only remaining unbeatens left in Division I after four other top-10 teams lost over the weekend.

Kansas shot only 37-percent while the Volunteers were hitting almost half of their shots. As a team, Tennessee shot 48-percent sunk nine of 18 three-pointers.

"The thing I will tell you is this: I don't know if Tennessee was a team until this past week. I don't know if Kansas is a team yet," Kansas coach Bill Self said.

The Jayhawks were on the ropes for most of the night, and got it to 71-68 on a three-pointer by Brady Morningstar with 1:14. But the door was closed soon after when walk-on Skylar McBee, who's playing time increased after the suspension of four players, nailed a contested three-ball to give the Volunteers a six-point advantage with less than a minute to go.

"McBee's shot was worth how many hours in the gym?" Pearl said. "When other kids were doing everything else, you could see McBee in the gym practicing all night long. It paid off -- the beautiful thing about sports."

Star forward Tyler Smith was among the four Volunteers arrested early on New Year's Day after an alleged robbery in which the group was found with drugs and a loaded firearm. Two players were already gone due to injuries, and cornerstones Wayne Chism and J.P. Prince sat for half of the contest due to foul trouble.

Clearly, the Volunteers were shorthanded against the nation's top team, but a raucous crowd chipped in plenty. The Jayhawks survived a scare in their last game, barely edging out a secretly good Cornell team, but only had the lead for a minimal amount of time and surrendered it with just over 18 minutes left in the game.

And having three players in double-digits was more than enough to best Kansas' Sherron Collins, who had 33 on the night. Bobby Maze had 16 points for Tennessee, and Renaldo Woolridge added 14.

"We're just hungry -- ready to go back to the gym," Woolridge said. "We want to work until we have to scrape each other off the floor just so we can have a feeling like this again."