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Vanderbilt’s Tyrin Lawrence and Missouri’s DeAndre Gholston will be the answers to the following trivia question someday: Which two players beat Tennessee with buzzer-beaters in a four-day span in February 2023?
Lawrence did it Wednesday. Gholston did it Saturday.
So instead of being 21-4 overall and 10-2 in the SEC, the Vols are now 19-6 overall and 8-4 in the SEC because two final-second shots ended up as makes instead of misses. That’s rough — not to mention damaging to Tennessee’s résumé, which now includes four losses to sub-40 NET teams. It’s why the Vols are down to No. 15 in Sunday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings.
Missouri is the new No. 24.
Kansas State’s Jerome Tang and Xavier’s Sean Miller have gotten most of the national attention for turning around programs in the first years with new jobs, but Missouri’s Dennis Gates deserves a place in the conversation. After taking over a program that went 12-21 last season, Gates took to the transfer portal and now has the Tigers sitting at 19-6. They own three wins over schools also in the Top 25 And 1 — specifically victories over No. 14 Iowa State, No. 15 Tennessee and No. 26 Illinois. They’re 8-6 in the first two quadrants with zero losses outside of Quadrant 1. It’s rock-solid and impressive stuff from Gates, who previously guided Cleveland State to back-to-back Horizon League titles in 2021 and 2022.
Purdue remains No. 1 in the Top 25 And 1 for the 21st consecutive morning. The Boilermakers are 23-2 overall, 12-2 in the Big Ten and 9-2 in Quadrant 1. They’re the only team in the country with more than four Quadrant 1 wins and fewer than three total losses.
