No. 9 Tennessee beats No. 4 Michigan State in charity exhibition game, 89-88
EAST LANSING, Mich. — It won’t count in the win column, but No. 9 Tennessee passed a huge test Sunday afternoon. The Vols led No. 4 Michigan State by as many as 18 points but needed a free throw from Jordan Gainey with 1.9 seconds left to win 89-88 in a charity exhibition game at the Breslin Center.
Michigan State’s AJ Hoggard came up with a steal on an inbound with five seconds left, the Spartans down three, and tied the game on a long 3-pointer from the top of the key. But Gainey was then fouled on the other end by Tre Holloman.
Jonas Aidoo sealed the win by stealing a long inbound at midcourt with 1.9 seconds left, after the Gainey free throw.
The Vols were led by Gainey and Dalton Knecht. Knecht had a game-high 28 and Gainey scored 20 as the two transfers starred in their debuts. Josiah-Jordan James scored eight, Tobe Awaka had eight and Aidoo added nine points and eight rebounds.
Michigan State got 22 from Tyson Walker, 14 from both Malik Hall and Hoggard and 12 more from Jaden Akins.
The lead was one with three minutes, 56 seconds left after a lightning quick 7-0 Spartan run that took just 76 seconds, capped by back-to-back Walker 3-pointers, getting the deficit down to 77-76.
Jahmai Mashack answered with a layup on the other side of the timeout. It was an 84-83 game with 23 seconds left, when Knecht hitting free throws on the other end to get it back to three.
Tennessee’s lead was down to one early in the second half, too, but the Vols punched back with 10 straight to get the difference back to double-digits at 11 with 15 minutes left.
A Walker three at the 18:09 mark in the second half got State back within one at 45-44. Gainey answered with a layup, James hit a pair of free throws then Mashack scored five straight.
Knecht then went behind his back in transition and exploded for a one-hand dunk over Hall, building the lead to 11 after the jaw-dropping three-point play.
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The Vols had their biggest lead midway through the first half, going ahead 30-12 on Gainey’s fourth 3-pointer of the first half. He started the game a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, including 4-for-4 from the 3-point line.
Gainey led Tennessee in the first half with 15 points while Knecht had 14, going 5-for-8 from the field and 2-for-5 from three.
The Vols outscored Michigan State 32-17 in the first 12 minutes, but were outscored by the Spartans 20-8 over the final eight minutes of the half, limping to the locker room with a 40-37 lead.
Tennessee shot 51.9% from the field (14-27) and 58.3% from the 3-point line (7-12) in the first half, but finished with just one made field goal on its last attempt. The Vols missed their last six shots before the halftime horn, going the final 4:35 without making a shot from the field.
It was a 15-1 lead for Tennessee by the 15:47 mark of the first half, with State starting 0-for-3 from the field with six turnovers before the first media timeout. Tennessee had seven points off of five Spartan turnovers in the first three minutes.
The Vols have a quick turnaround after the debut win, hosting Lenoir-Rhyne in another exhibition game on Tuesday (6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network+) at Thompson-Boling Arena.
