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Vols are up five spots in latest Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll

The Vols are up five spots in the latest Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll.

Tennessee (18-6, 9-3 SEC) has moved up five spots in the latest Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports.

The poll was released Monday and the Vols are ranked No. 13.

Below is the complete poll.

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Change
1	Gonzaga	21-2	798 (30)	–
2	Auburn	23-2	734 (2)	–
3	Kentucky	21-4	731	+1
4	Arizona	22-2	725	+1
5	Duke	21-4	631	+1
6	Kansas	20-4	603	+2
7	Purdue	22-4	596	-4
8	Baylor	21-4	583	+2
9	Providence	21-2	577	+2
10	Villanova	19-6	475	+5
11	Texas Tech	19-6	451	-2
12	Illinois	18-6	441	+1
13	Tennessee	18-6	360	+5
14	UCLA	14-5	358	-2
15	Houston	20-4	351	-8
16	Wisconsin	19-5	328	-2
17	USC	21-4	288	+4
18	Ohio State	15-6	278	-2
19	Michigan State	18-6	244	-2
20	Texas	18-7	170	–
21	Murray State	24-2	105	+3
22	Wyoming	21-3	94	+4
23	Marquette	16-9	87	-4
24	Connecticut	17-7	68	-1
24	Arkansas	19-6	68	+6

Schools Dropped Out

No. 22 Saint Mary’s; No. 25 Wake Forest

Others Receiving Votes

Alabama 55; Saint Mary’s 45; Colorado St. 33; Xavier 20; Notre Dame 18; Wake Forest 16; Miami-Florida 14; Louisiana State 8; Southern Methodist 7; Loyola-Chicago 7; Seton Hall 6; Rutgers 6; Boise St. 6; Davidson 4; San Francisco 3; North Carolina 2; Iowa State 2; Iowa 2; Texas Christian 1; Missouri St. 1

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Lady Vols claim second victory against Vanderbilt this season

The Lady Vols claim its second victory against Vanderbilt this season.

The Lady Vols completed a season sweep of in-state and Southeastern Conference rival Vanderbilt Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

No. 13 Tennessee (21-4, 10-2 SEC) overcame 10 first-half turnovers to capture a 66-52 victory over the Commodores (12-14, 3-9 SEC).

Jordan Horston recorded another double-double, her 12th of the season for the Lady Vols, who also defeated the Commodores last month in Nashville.

She had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Tennessee, which led, 15-12, after the first quarter. Horston also had seven assists.

Rae Burrell added 15 points off the bench for the Lady Vols, who opened a 31-26 advantage by halftime before holding Vanderbilt scoreless for over five minutes to open the third quarter.

Alexus Dye, Jordan Walker, Tamari Key and Sara Puckett each scored eight points for Tennessee.

Key also had nine rebounds and five assists, while Puckett fished with seven rebounds.

Vanderbilt’s Brinae Alexander had a game-high 19 points. Iyana Moore finished with 17 points for the Commodores.

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Vols defeat Vanderbilt, extends SEC winning streak to seven

The Vols defeat Vanderbilt and extends its SEC winning streak to seven.

No. 18 Tennessee won its seventh consecutive Southeastern Conference game, defeating Vanderbilt (13-11, 5-7 SEC), 73-64, Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Freshman guard Zakai Zeigler came off the bench to lead the Volunteers (18-6, 9-3 SEC) with 16 points and five assists.

Zeigler was one of four Tennessee players to score in double figures.

Josiah-Jordan James finished the game with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

John Fulkerson added 12 points and six rebounds for UT, which led, 44-32, at halftime. Santiago Vesovi had 10 points for the Vols and made three 3-pointers.

Vanderbilt had three players post double figures in the scoring column.

Scotty Pippen Jr. led all scorers with 23 points. Myles Stute added 17 points and Rodney Chatman scored 11.

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LSU continues to get back on track against Mississippi State

It wasn’t perfect, but LSU got the win

For the first time in well over a month, LSU has won back to back games.

LSU defeated Mississippi State 69-65 on Saturday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

The first few minutes of the game looked like LSU’s offense would be missing in action as they have been far too many times this season.

Mississippi State raced out to a 7-0 lead as LSU missed their first nine shots of the game over the first four minutes. LSU eventually woke up with their own 12-0 run, to make it 12-7.

LSU built on that run to take a strong 37-22 lead into the half. LSU has relied on defense and turnovers to win games this year and there was plenty of that in the first half for the Tigers. LSU was not able to carry that momentum into the second half as Mississippi State fought all the way back to tie it.

Tari Eason then made some big plays and LSU was able to regroup. Eason has had a lot of good games this year but this was one of his best. He did his usual on defense and in transition but he also led the Tigers in 3-point shots. The former Cincinnati transfer led the way with 23 points for LSU.

Mississippi State was led by Iverson Molinar who had a game-high 26 points.

With Pinson back, LSU looks to be getting back on track. Along with Eason, Pinson and Days were the only other Tigers to score in double-digits.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi said during the broadcast that the NCAA selection committee could take note of injuries that seemed to have led directly to wins and losses and Pinson seems to certainly fit in that category.

Despite the win, LSU needs to shoot better. Darius Days and Pinson both struggled mightily from deep in this game. The offense played well, but it was far from consistent and questions remain.

Mississippi State was a formidable opponent and this was a solid win for a LSU team that was still searching for stability.

Top scorers in NBA history (regular season and playoffs combined): LeBron James is No. 1

Even in a rough season team-wise, there’s a silver lining for LeBron James when it comes to individual accolades. The last one is a pretty big deal: during the game vs. the Warriors, he just became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer when combining points in the regular season and playoffs. (If you include play-in tournament scoring, he actually became the top NBA scorer in the Lakers’ loss to Portland).

King James still trails Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in regular-season scoring, though he’s on track to pass him there as well next season.

Below, we present the top scorers in NBA history using their regular season and playoff total points combined.

USA TODAY still not that sold on Notre Dame’s NCAA chances

What does Notre Dame have to finish to make the tournament?

Notre Dame has been playing great basketball of late, winning seven of their last eight games. The Irish are now 17-7 on the year as they enter Saturday night’s game at Clemson, but despite the recent surge, the USA TODAY’s bracketology isn’t as sold on their tournament resume.

Shelby Mast and Scott Gleeson put together this week’s bracket projection and had Notre Dame in the big dance but by the skin of their teeth. The pair projected the Irish to play Belmont in the 12 vs. 12 play-in game, making the Irish one of the last four in.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame is firmly on the bubble as a play-in No. 12 seed in the latest projection despite being tied with Duke atop the ACC. It’s an example of how the NCAA selection committee pays no attention to league rankings and how a team has to make up for lost ground if it plays poorly in non-conference games, as the Irish did. Notre Dame is surging, though, having won seven of its past eight.

I think they’re slightly harsh on the Irish resume through the committee’s eyes with the ACC being improved in the national rankings compared to where it was even just a month ago. What does it mean for Notre Dame?

I think they’re a little safer than sneaking into a play-in game but my best advice would be to just keep winning and leave as little up to chance as possible.

Clemson starter suspended for Notre Dame game tonight

Is one game enough? (no)

By now chances are high that you’ve seen the video of one of the dirtier plays you’ll ever find a basketball court that occurred in Clemson’s home loss to Duke earlier this week. David Collins of Clemson was trying to run down Wendell Moore of Duke in order to contest a dunk (at least he claims) and instead took out Moore’s legs mid-flight.

Fortunately Moore wasn’t hurt but Collins was immediately ejected from the contest.

The ACC has stepped in as well and suspended Collins for Saturday’s contest as Clemson hosts Notre Dame.

Is a one game suspension enough for what Collins did? Take a look below and comment your thoughts.

As for me, one game is about four or five too few.

Uncalled for, inexcusable, and pathetic.

Notre Dame and Clemson tip-off at 7 p.m. ET Saturday night.

Former Vol named Coach of the Year

A former Vol has been named Coach of the Year.

Former Vol Jon Higgins has been named District 4-AAAA Coach of the Year. Higgins serves as Farragut High School’s head coach in Farragut, Tennessee.

He guided Farragut to a District 4-AAAA regular-season championship in 2021-22.

Higgins played for the Vols from 1999-2003.

He began his high school coaching career as an assistant at Fulton High School in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The former Vol had his first head coaching job at Knoxville Central High School. He took over as Farragut’s boys basketball head coach following the 2016-17 season and became the boys and girls golf head coach in 2019.

He guided Farragut to the 2020 Large Schools Division state golf championship.

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ACC basketball standings entering Saturday

Who is the ACC’s biggest surprise this season?

After winning six of their last seven games in conference, Notre Dame has made a surge in the ACC standings as they sit tied with the best record in the league entering Saturday’s action. However, that one recent loss was to Duke and is the reason the Blue Devils would be seeded No. 1 if the ACC Tournament were to have started Saturday.

Here are the entire ACC standings entering play on Saturday, Feb. 11:

1) Duke Blue Devils (10-3)
2) Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-3)
3) Wake Forest Demon Deacons (10-4)
4) Miami Hurricanes (9-4)
5) North Carolina Tar Heels (9-4)
6) Virginia Cavaliers (9-5)
7) Syracuse Orange (7-6)
8) Virginia Tech Hokies (6-7)
9) Florida State Seminoles (6-7)
10) Louisville Cardinals (5-9)
11) Boston College Eagles (4-8)
12) Clemson Tigers (4-9)
13) Pittsburgh Panthers (4-10)
14) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3-9)
15) NC State Wolfpack (3-11)

Notre Dame is at Clemson with a 7 p.m. ET tipoff on Saturday night.

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