Freije leads Vanderbilt to win over UT
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Freije scored 28 points and Corey Smith had 12 as Vanderbilt rallied in the second half to beat Tennessee 61-58 Wednesday night.
Freije made his final game in Memorial Gym one of his most memorable. His second-half performance resulted in Vanderbilt’s 15th home win this season, a school record, and gave the Commodores 19 wins for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
The victory also may be enough for Vanderbilt (19-7, 8-7 Southeastern Conference) to sneak into the NCAA tournament a year after finishing 11-18 and last in the SEC Eastern Division.
“This was an emotionally charged night. We needed our eighth (SEC) win. It was senior night, and it was UT,” Frieje said. “There’s not a better way to leave Memorial Gym than with a win over UT.”
Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings isn’t banking on the NCAAs yet.
The Commodores were overlooked in 1999-2000, Stallings’ first season.
“I learned my lesson four years ago. If we win the SEC tournament, we’ll get in. Anything short of that, I’m not sure,” he said.
Vanderbilt couldn’t even think about the postseason until after the game. The Commodores’ chances to pull out a win were dim until the second half.
Tennessee (14-12, 6-9), which didn’t win any of its eight SEC road games, was ahead by as many as 14 in the first half and was up 35-30 at halftime.
Frieje scored 19 points after halftime, and his 3-pointer with 1:58 remaining was the difference.
After Russell Lakey scored less than a minute into the second half, Freije scored all of Vanderbilt’s next 13 points. That stretch included a 10-0 run that cut Tennessee’s lead to 48-45 with 9:04 remaining.
Freije converted a three-point play that trimmed the lead to a point with 3:40 to go, and the crowd roared.
Tennessee’s Brandon Crump scored at the other end, but Freije got a rebound off his own missed 3 that led to a Corey Smith 3-pointer, which tied the game at 53.
“Matt was carrying us like he has all season. I was just trying to provide some help,” Smith said.
It was Freije again with another 3-pointer — his fifth of the game — that gave the Commodores a 56-55 lead with 1:58 left, their first lead since 3-2.
“Matt willed them to the win,” Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson said.
After the Vols lost the lead, they melted.
Crump, who was ejected from Saturday’s game for participating in a fight with Auburn’s Marco Killingsworth, was whistled for an intentional foul when he knocked down Lakey, who was grabbing a loose rebound.
Freije ran over in front of the student section and yelled for the raucous fans to scream louder.
Lakey made the first of two free throws, and Scott Hundley sank two more free throws to seal it.
Scooter McFadgon’s 3-pointer with seven seconds left was Tennessee’s last gasp.
McFadgon led Tennessee with 13 points while C.J. Watson added 12 and Crump had 10.
McFadgon, who entered the game shooting 92.5 percent at the foul line, missed the front end of one-and-one free throws twice in the final five minutes.
“We had good momentum going, but at the end, they just made some big shots,” McFadgon said. “We were winning the whole game. We just let it go at the end.”
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