Tennessee hands Ole Miss their first loss of the season

Two teams that symbolized the enormous gulf between fulfilling expectations and creating them met before an announced sellout of 21,846 at Thompson-Boling Arena, where the Vols (13-1, 1-0 SEC) solidified their status as the league’s prohibitive favorite. But even in defeat, the Rebels (13-1, 0-1) continued their early-season trend of trampling predictions. Those early forecasts of a last-place finish in the SEC West? They now seem laughable.

After Ole Miss went ahead, 83-79, with 2:04 to play on a fast-break bucket by sophomore forward Eniel Polynice, Tennessee scored the game’s final six points.

Tyler Smith’s late-game opportunity was created by some miscues at the free-throw line. Ole Miss senior forward Kenny Williams missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 33.6 seconds left.

But throughout the first half, Warren played the same sort of poise that helped catapult the Rebels to the best start in school history. After Lofton connected on a 3-pointer for Tennessee’s largest lead, 35-27, Warren answered with a 3-pointer of his own. Then he converted an old-fashioned three-point play during a 9-0 run that pushed the Rebels ahead, 39-38.

But if Warren was fire, then JaJuan Smith was ice. He scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, to pace the Vols to a 45-44 halftime lead. The Vols continued their hot shooting in the second half, and they surged to a 72-60 lead when senior guard Jordan Howell buried a 3-pointer.

Ole Miss soon mounted a 12-2 run that drained the energy from the arena and had the Rebels teetering on the brink of a unexpected triumph. They had to settle for respect.

Tyler Smith sliced his way to the left side of the basket for the game-winning layup with 4.2 seconds left, a hoop that lifted No. 8 Tennessee to an 85-83 victory over No. 16 Ole Miss.

Atypical SEC Teams on Top First

Ole Miss and Vanderbilt are two of the six teams in the country that are still unbeaten.

Just let that settle in for a minute.

Toss in Tennessee, since the Vols are the only one-loss team and arguably the most talented squad, and that’s your SEC hierarchy through the first two months of the season.

Though undefeated, the Rebels still have plenty of doubters. Picked to finish last in the SEC West for the second straight season, the defending division co-champions are one of just six undefeated teams left this season. They will be able to prove their critics wrong in the difficult stretch to start the SEC season. They face their second ranked opponent when they open play at No. 8 Tennessee on Jan. 9.

Mississippi: 12-0

Signature wins: Ole Miss beat Clemson by three in Puerto Rico, smacked Southern Miss on a neutral court, ran away from New Mexico and Central Florida, and beat Winthrop and DePaul. Clemson and Winthrop may be the only NCAA-bound teams in the bunch, but the Rebels won all the games.

Bad game: Can’t find one, not when the Rebels won them all.

Bad luck: None yet.

Better than anyone thought: Freshman point guard Chris Warren is averaging 15.3 points and 5.6 assists. He has nearly a 2-1 assist-turnover ratio so far. “I can’t remember a freshman class that has had so many impact players, do you?” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “He’s done such a great job so far at the point, but he’s still a work in progress.”

Not up to par: Maybe it’s not fair, but freshman forward Malcolm White came in with decent hype. He has played in only nine of the 12 games and is scoring just two points a game so far.

Money man: If the Rebels need to count on someone, then Dwayne Curtis will deliver. He’s averaging 15.6 points and 8.1 boards. The senior center has been a rock for Kennedy, shooting 67.6 percent and making nearly 80 percent of his free throws.

Forecast: The easy thing would be to dump on the Rebels and say they’re this season’s Clemson, a team off to a hot start that fades fast. But there has been no sign the Rebels are going to flop. “I’m not sure we’re ever going to scare anyone,” said Andy Kennedy, coach for Ole Miss. “But we’ve gained some respect. I think the biggest question mark is how are we going to deal with that number [ranking] in front of our name? People aren’t used to playing Ole Miss ranked No. 18. We’ll see how guys react to that.”

Tennessee: 12-1

Signature wins: The Vols have beaten West Virginia in Newark, N.J., won at Xavier and bested Gonzaga in Seattle.

Bad game: Hard to call it as such, but the Vols simply didn’t play well in their only loss against Texas, losing by 19 in Newark.

Bad luck: Duke Crews is out indefinitely after being diagnosed with a heart condition. He played in eight games.

Better than anyone thought: Arizona transfer J.P. Prince is averaging 14 points and four boards in four games so far.

Not up to par: Preseason All-American guard Chris Lofton is leading the Vols in scoring at 14.5 points a game, but he’s shooting 33.6 percent on 3s after shooting 41.9 percent last season.

The money man: JaJuan Smith is scoring 14.4 a game, and Pearl said “in a lot of ways, we go as JaJuan Smith goes. He’s been better and always been one of the most underrated guards in the league. He’s a good defender, and always stays under control offensively.”

Forecast: The Vols still have two more nonconference games, against Ohio State and at Memphis. The latter game, on Feb. 23, and a contest at Vanderbilt three days later represent a two-game stretch that could determine NCAA seeding.