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Watch: Allan Houston addresses Vols in locker room after win over Maryland

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•12/11/22•

GrantRamey

Tennessee legend Allan Houston addressed the Vols after their 56-53 win over Maryland in the Hall of Fame Invitational in New York (Tennessee Athletics)
Tennessee legend Allan Houston addressed the Vols after their 56-53 win over Maryland in the Hall of Fame Invitational in New York (Tennessee Athletics)

BROOKLYN — Sometimes it’s not about just making shots. Sometimes it’s about more than that. That was the message Allan Houston gave No. 7 Tennessee after the Vols held on for a 56-53 win over No. 13 Maryland on Sunday.

“One thing I was just telling,” Houston said in a video from the postgame locker room published on social media, “you all compete every play. One thing I noticed is every play, you don’t take a possession off. Then when it gets tough like that, you just got to keep making plays.

“So one thing I respect you guys is it’s not about making shots, it’s about competing. Keep doing that, y’all will have a special year. I look forward to it, man.”

Houston, an All-American with the Vols and Tennessee’s all-time leading scorer, was the 11th overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft and went on to average 17.3 points per game while shooting 40.2 percent from the 3-point line and 44.4 percent from the field during a 14-year career in the league, spending all but three seasons with the New York Knicks. 

Tennessee (9-1) led Maryland (8-2) by as much as 21 points in the first half but had a 16-point lead with 11:27 left cut down to two win the closing minutes of the game after a 12-0 Maryland run.

“We missed a lot of shots that gave them the opportunity to rebound the ball,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said during his postgame press conference. “I’m proud of our guys. It was a heck of a win. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. 

“And like I said, we’re going to be in a bunch of them. Been in a bunch of them. Certainly in Atlantis. Might as well get used to it. I thought the way we handled it, got to be good with it.”

Zakai Zeigler scored 12 points and had three rebounds and three assists for Tennessee (9-1). Tyreke Key scored nine points, Olivier Nkamhoua had eight points and nine rebounds and Santiago Vescovi and Tobe Awaka scored seven each, with Awaka adding eight rebounds.

Freshman Julian Phillips scored six points and had a team-high 10 rebounds. Jahmai Mashack scored five in just nine minutes off the bench.

Tennessee held Maryland to just 3-for-24 shooting in the first half and led 34-17 at halftime. The Terrapins shot 50.0 precent from the floor in the second half while outscoring the Vols by 14 after halftime.

Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee at No. 10 Arizona, Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Maryland scored with 24.2 seconds left to cut the Tennessee lead down to 55-53. Zeigler missed the front end of a one-and-one on the other end.

The Terps missed a jumper with 11 seconds left, looking to tie the game. Nkamhoua came down with the rebound and Tyreke Key made one of two free throws to make it a three-point advantage with seven seconds left. 

Maryland missed a three as time expired as the Vols held on to win.

“Second half, they didn’t do a lot different,” Barnes said. “They just started running basically two sets, and we were not doing a good job. Some of it was fatigue. We were switching our coverage and we weren’t sharp as we needed to be. But you have to give them credit. It was a good, hard-fought game both ways.”

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