Chism wills Vols to first ever Elite Eight

There are so many storylines for the Vols making their first Elite Eight in school history with a 76-73 win against Ohio State.

Wayne Chism's performance takes the cake.

The senior scored 18 of his team-leading 22 points in the second half, dominating inside the paint. It was clear that Chism was not willing to let his UT career end without making history. After two previous trips to the Sweet 16 with no victories, Chism willed his team to the next round, giving the Vols the lead twice in the final six minutes.

And talking to Bill Raftery after the game on national television, Chism could have been cocky and gloated in the moment. Instead, he kept things classy and calm, making it apparent that even this isn't satisfying enough of an accomplishment to put things in cruise control the rest of the way.

Seniors J.P. Prince and Bobby Maze were also big contributors in the historic win. Prince, who had 14 points, mostly avoided his usual bonehead plays, and even stuffed Evan Turner on a desperation 3-point attempt that could have tied the game. Maze added a quiet 10 points, but helped the Vols defense keep the Buckeyes' shooting in check.

It was appropriate that Chism dominated the floor after entering the second half trailing to Ohio State. He is the only current Vol who played in the 85-84 Sweet 16 loss to Ohio State in 2007. In that contest, he logged just six points in 17 minutes of play while watching his team give up a 17-point halftime lead to the eventual national runners-up.

Seriously, though: of all five of Bruce Pearl's UT squads, it would be this one that made it to the Elite Eight.

We all know about "the incident," so I won't even talk about it or do any hyperlinks. But after losing three players indefinitely and permanently dismissing two-time All-SEC player Tyler Smith, the makeup of this team seriously changed.

This would have been a very understandable time to curl up and die. Instead, they banned together. They played some ugly basketball, lost a few bad games, but eventually found their way.

Despite an improbable recovery of the season, the Vols continued their signature poor postseason play in the SEC Tournament, including a 73-45 romping from the hands of Kentucky, they looked poise to be another NCAA Tournament burnout.

Instead, the Vols took their six-seed, played like they actually had a chip on their shoulder (instead of just making the claim) and made history.

But the Vols might not be finished just yet. Tennessee can advance to the Final Four with a win Sunday over Tom Izzo and Michigan State.

That's no small task, even though the Spartans lost Kalin Lucas to injury in the second round of this tournament. Michigan State has been here before, and the Vols obviously haven't.

But so far in this tournament, the Vols look like a team that won't be satisfied with an Elite Eight bid.

It appears they know there's more history that can be written.

(Read the original story at TNJN.com)