Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Oakland Upsets No. 7 Tennessee

For No. 7 Tennessee, an upset at home at the hands of Oaklandfollowing a win over then-No. 3 Pittsburgh would be quite the unlikely outcome. 

For Oakland, the third time would be the charm. And it was, in an 89-82 victory. 

The Golden Grizzlies were playing a ranked opponent away from home for the third time in the past six days. Last Wednesday, they hung with then-No. 16 Illinois for most of the game and ended up losing by 11. Saturday, in Detroit, they lost by just one to then-No. 7 Michigan State. 

Tuesday night, Oakland handed Tennessee its first loss of the season. The Volunteers (7-1) had beaten two Top-10 teams thus far in the season, so it is quite surprising to see a team from the Summitt League be the one to knock them from the undefeated perch. 

Just don't forget to credit Oakland (6-5), an experienced and battle-tested team. The Grizzlies' four top scorers are all seniors and they've played as tough an early schedule as anyone in the nation. And No. 2 Ohio State is on the docket for next week. 

Tuesday, a trio of seniors stood out once again for Oakland. Keith Benson led the way with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Larry Wright added 19 points and six assists while Will Hudson had 15 points and eight rebounds. 

Tennessee actually held a 50-39 advantage at halftime, but the Grizzlies were not to be denied this time -- outscoring the Vols by 18 in the second half. 

UT star Scotty Hopson was held to just seven point on 1-of-7 shooting. Melvin Goins and Brian Williams led the Vols with 18 points. Williams pulled down 13 rebounds. 

Tennessee was doomed by, among other things, poor outside shooting. The Volunteers hit just 4-of-18 (22 percent) from 3-point range.


http://www.BestVirginiaBeachShop.com

No comments: