Mississippi came within seconds of a chance at remaining undefeated. Now the Rebels have to rebound from their first loss.
Tyler Smith’s layup with 4.2 seconds left gave No. 8 Tennessee an 85-83 victory over No. 16 Ole Miss on Wednesday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
“We’re way beyond moral victories,” Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy said. “Our guys are crushed. I’ve got grown men crying in there.”
The Rebels (13-1) didn’t even get off a shot on the game’s final possession, making the trip to Knoxville even a little worse.
“I’m not happy if we don’t win,” said freshman Chris Warren, who led Mississippi with 24 points. “It’s not how we wanted it to come out. We came ready to play.”
Tennessee (13-1) led by 12 points with 11 minutes left but the Rebels went on a 23-7 run that gave them an 83-79 lead with 2:22 left.
Wayne Chism and Smith hit jumpers to tie the game at 83.
Mississippi then had four shots in a flurry that ended with Kenny Williams at the line for a 1-and-1 with 31 seconds left. He missed and the Volunteers worked the ball around until Smith’s decisive basket, a play that made coach Bruce Pearl very happy.
“He took it right to the basket. He stuck it up their nose,” Pearl said.
Smith said he knew Pearl wouldn’t call a timeout so someone on the court would have to make the big play.
“No matter what, it was going to be a foul or a basket,” he said.
In other games involving ranked teams on Wednesday, it was: No. 1 North Carolina 93, North Carolina-Asheville 81; No. 2 Memphis 99, East Carolina 58; No. 9 Duke 74, Temple 64; No. 13 Vanderbilt 80, South Carolina 73; No. 17 Dayton 92, No. 22 Rhode Island 83; Charlotte 82, No. 18 Clemson 72; No. 20 Pittsburgh 79, South Florida 66; and No. 24 Xavier 83, St. Bonaventure 68.
Tyler Smith and JaJuan Smith both had 21 points for the Volunteers, whose only loss was to No. 12 Texas.
Eniel Polynice added 20 points for the Rebels, whose loss leaves North Carolina, Memphis, Kansas, Washington State and Vanderbilt as the only unbeatens in Division I.
Tennessee shot 47.1 percent from the field (32-for-68), while the Rebels hit 43.7 percent (31-for-71). The big difference was behind the 3-point line where the Vols went 12-for-26 to the Rebels’ 8-for-25.
The Rebels outrebounded the Vols 44-39 and scored 23 second-chance points.
“The stat sheet looks awfully good offensively,” Pearl said. “It’s hard to beat opponents though when they get 20 points off rebounds.”
No. 1 North Carolina 93, UNC Asheville 81
Tyler Hansbrough scored 23 points, including a momentum-shifting dunk over the nation’s tallest player, 7-foot-7 Kenny George and the Tar Heels (16-0) completed their first perfect nonconference regular season since 1998 and fifth in 50 years.
Bryan Smithson had 25 points for the visiting Bulldogs (11-4) and George had 14, many on feet-on-the-ground dunks and layups.
No. 2 Memphis 99, East Carolina 58
Freshman Derrick Rose scored 19 points and the Tigers (14-0, 1-0) won their 41st consecutive home game and stretched their Conference USA winning streak to 24 games.
Darrell Jenkins and John Fields both had 11 points for the Pirates (6-8, 0-1).
No. 9 Duke 74, Temple 64
Taylor King scored 15 points and the Blue Devils (12-1) beat Temple for the eighth straight time, giving coach Mike Krzyzewski his 787th victory and moving him into sixth place on the career wins list.
Dionte Christmas gad 23 points for the Owls (6-7), who used an 11-0 run to make it 53-45 in the game played in front of 18,030 fans at the Wachovia Center.
No. 13 Vanderbilt 80, South Carolina 73
Freshman A.J. Ogilvy scored 25 points for the Commodores (16-0, 1-0 SEC), who extended the best start in school history with their fourth straight win over South Carolina.
Devan Downey had 22 points for the visiting Gamecocks (8-7, 0-1), including the basket that capped an 11-4 run and made it 71-69 with 1:45 left. Alex Gordon hit a 3 for Vandy and the Commodores made their final six free throws.
No. 17 Dayton 92, No. 22 Rhode Island 83
Brian Roberts scored 23 points and the Flyers (13-1) won their 12th straight game in the Atlantic 10 opener for both teams.
Jimmy Baron had 26 points for the visiting Rams (14-2), while Will Daniels added 25. Daniels scored six straight points to make it 82-78 with 1:31 to go. Marcus Johnson hit a 3 from the baseline with 58 seconds remaining to give Dayton a seven-point lead.
Charlotte 82, No. 18 Clemson 72
Leemire Goldwire had his first career double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the 49ers (9-5) to their first win over a ranked team in nearly three years. Charlotte lost all of a 12-point lead in the second half, but outscored the Tigers 13-3 over the final 4:23.
Trevor Booker had a career-high 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Tigers (12-3), who lost their second straight home game.
No. 20 Pittsburgh 79, South Florida 66
Sam Young scored 22 points and Keith Benjamin had 20 for the Panthers (13-2, 1-1), who bounced back from losing their Big East opener to No. 19 Villanova.
Kentrell Gransberry matched his career high with 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Bulls (10-6, 1-2), who dropped to 8-70 all-time against ranked teams.
No. 24 Xavier 83, St. Bonaventure 68
B.J. Raymond and C.J. Anderson both had a career-high with 21 points and the Musketeers (13-3, 1-0 Atlantic 10) won their fifth straight.
Zarryon Fereti scored 22 points for the visiting Bonnies (6-9, 0-1).
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