COLUMBUS, Oh. (WTVF) — Tennessee had the ball and the last shot. The season was on the line in the final seconds of Sunday’s second round NCAA Tournament game against Iowa and leading scorer Admiral Schofield was on the bench.
Jordan Bone missed a three from the wing with the score tied at 71 and the game headed to overtime. But Schofield did not head back into the game as the Vols eventually pulled away from the Hawkeyes 83-77.
After the game Rick Barnes explained the mysterious decision to leave his All-SEC forward on the bench wasn’t completely his call.
“(Admiral) didn’t want to play. He kept saying leave Kyle (Alexander) in the game,” Barnes said. “He knee with four fouls they’d go right at him and he said, ‘I can’t play the way and defend the way I need to play. You’ve to leave Kyle in.”
Alexander had eight points, going a perfect 2-2 from the field and 4-4 from the foul line. The 6’11 senior also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds while providing a rim protector inside.
Schofield, who equaled Grant Williams’ team-high total of 19 points, did not play in overtime and didn’t pout.
Far from it actually. Schofield shouted instructions and became the team’s biggest cheerleader from the bench.
“Admiral set the tone,” Williams said after the game. “He was a tremendous leader, recognizing that Kyle was playing well. That takes leadership because anyone in that situation would normally say, ‘hey, put me in’, but being a leader he understood that Kyle was bringing value.”
Barnes also said a contributing factor to the lineup switch was Tennessee turning to a two-man game between Lamonte Turner and Grant Williams to exploit Iowa’s switching defense.
That strategic decision paid off with Turner and Williams combining for 19 of the Vols’ final 28 points to move on.
So did the coach’s decision to trust his players and bench one of his All-SEC forwards for the biggest minutes of the season.
“You realize that the players probably have a better feel than anybody in the building,” Barnes said. “I trust my players. I do. The fact they thought (Kyle) needed to be in the game, we went with it.”
