Don't look now, but the team picked 11th in the SEC in the preseason is tied for fourth with three games to play.
The Tennessee Vols overcame a sluggish start to roll past Mississippi 73-60 to remain in a tie with LSU for the fourth and final bye in the SEC Tournament.
Alabama is a half game back. The Tide plays at Arkansas Thursday.
Jeronne Maymon had a double-double and five Vols were in double figures as they put together a 19-2 first half run to catch up with the Rebels, and then blew past them in the second.
The Vols are 15-13, 7-6 in the SEC. They travel to South Carolina on Saturday.
Tennessee moved into sole possession of fourth place in the SEC -- for the moment -- with a 73-60 win over Ole Miss on Wednesday night. The Vols stand at 7-6 in the league (15-13 overall) as LSU (6-6) is hosting Georgia tonight and Alabama plays at Arkansas on Thursday. Tennessee has now won six home games in a row and 11 of 12 with the lone loss to No. 1 Kentucky in that stretch.
The Vols had five players in double-figures, marking the second home game in a row that UT had five or more with 10-plus points. Jeronne Maymon tallied 18, his ninth game in a row in double-figures and grabbed 11 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the year. Jordan McRae netted 16 and Trae Golden notched 11. Dwight Miller had the second-most points of his career with 10. Cameron Tatum also had 10.
The Rebels (15-12, 5-8 SEC) were led by Terrance Henry, who had 15.
The Vols have won 11 straight home games vs. Ole Miss and hold a 39-10 advantage in games played in Knoxville in the series.
Tennessee pulled away late and led by as many as 15 points in the final minute. McRae brought the house down a monster dunk with 11:20 left in the second half, that put the Vols ahead 47-37. Miller followed that jam with his second 3-pointer of the night to put UT up 50-39.
The Vols opened the second half with an 11-4 run keyed by a Tatum 3-pointer which put UT ahead 39-33, just 2:08 into the half
Ole Miss used a 9-0 run to take a 30-25 lead on a Nick Williams jumper with 1:51 left in the first half and led 31-30 at intermission.
After falling behind 15-2 to start the game, Tennessee rebounded with a 19-2 run late in the first half. The rally was keyed by an unlikely source -- Miller -- who scored seven consecutive points, in a span of 1:57. Miller made his second-career 3-pointer in the run.
The Vols took their first lead of the game at 19-17 lead on a 3-point play by McRae with 6:34 left in the first half. Maymon's lay-up with 6:02 extended the lead to 21-17.
Ole Miss took a 15-2 lead to open the game as the Rebels made seven of their first eight shots. Conversely, the Vols missed seven of eight shots to start the game.
Tennessee heads to South Carolina for an 8 p.m. tip-off on Saturday. That game will air on Fox Sports South and can be heard on the Vol Network. The Vols return home for their regular-season finale on Saturday, March 3 as Tennessee hosts Vanderbilt at 4 p.m., in an ESPN-televised game.
Official Basketball Box Score
Ole Miss vs Tennessee
02/22/12 7:00 p.m. at Knoxville, Tenn. (Thompson-Boling Arena)
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VISITORS: Ole Miss 15-12, 5-8 SEC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Henry,Terrance...... f 6-11 1-3 2-2 0 4 4 2 15 1 2 0 0 31
31 Holloway,Murphy..... f 6-9 0-0 1-4 1 3 4 5 13 2 3 2 1 31
04 Cox,Demarco......... c 2-4 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 3 4 1 0 0 2 17
20 Williams,Nick....... g 5-11 1-3 0-0 0 6 6 4 11 0 1 0 1 31
32 Summers,Jarvis...... g 3-9 1-3 0-1 1 0 1 3 7 4 1 0 1 29
10 White,LaDarius...... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 5
12 Aniefiok,Maurice.... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
23 Buckner,Reginald.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 2 0 1 2 0 1 24
24 Norman,Will......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
34 Jones,Aaron......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
45 Kendrick,Jelan...... 3-7 0-1 4-5 0 3 3 3 10 1 2 1 1 23
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 25-56 3-11 7-12 7 21 28 22 60 11 11 3 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-25 52.0% 2nd Half: 12-31 38.7% Game: 44.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-5 0.0% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 27.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-7 71.4% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 58.3% 2
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HOME TEAM: Tennessee 15-13, 7-6 SEC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Stokes, Jarnell..... f 4-7 0-0 0-1 2 6 8 1 8 1 2 0 0 30
34 Maymon, Jeronne..... f 6-7 0-0 6-8 4 7 11 0 18 2 3 0 1 30
11 Golden, Trae........ g 3-7 1-3 4-4 0 1 1 4 11 5 2 0 1 30
13 McBee, Skylar....... g 0-3 0-3 0-0 1 2 3 1 0 2 0 0 0 20
23 Tatum, Cameron...... g 3-7 2-5 2-2 0 4 4 1 10 1 1 0 0 26
00 Makanjuola, Yemi.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3
01 Richardson, Josh.... 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 15
25 Miller, Dwight...... 4-8 2-3 0-2 5 2 7 1 10 0 1 1 0 16
52 McRae, Jordan....... 5-13 0-3 6-9 1 5 6 1 16 4 0 1 0 30
TEAM................
Totals.............. 25-56 5-17 18-26 13 27 40 10 73 15 11 2 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-30 43.3% 2nd Half: 12-26 46.2% Game: 44.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 29.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 17-21 81.0% Game: 69.2% 5
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Officials: Antonio Petty, Jamie Luckie, Mike Kitts
Technical fouls: Ole Miss-None. Tennessee-None.
Attendance: 17079
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Ole Miss...................... 31 29 - 60
Tennessee..................... 30 43 - 73
Points in the paint-UM 28,UT 36. Points off turnovers-UM 9,UT 20.
2nd chance points-UM 6,UT 8. Fast break points-UM 4,UT 8.
Bench points-UM 10,UT 26. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-5 times.
Last FG-UM 2nd-00:06, UT 2nd-01:49.
Largest lead-UM by 13 1st-13:51, UT by 15 2nd-00:59.