Admiral Scofield – Vols Forward / Credit: UT Athletics
Tennessee basketball standout Admiral Schofield has been named SEC Co-Player of the Week after averaging a team-best 20.5 points while powering the Volunteers to wins over Florida and Ole Miss.
The junior from Zion, Illinois, shares this week’s SEC honor with Mississippi State guard Lamar Peters. Tennessee and MSU square off tomorrow in Starkville at 7 p.m. ET (SEC Network).
Schofield also paced the Vols in rebounding (7.5 rpg) and field-goal percentage (.516) last week. His week was highlighted by a dominant performance in Oxford during which he scored a career-high 25 points on an efficient 9-of-14 shooting. It was the fifth 20-point performance of his career and his fourth of the season.
His two 3-pointers against the Rebels marked the 18th time this season that he has made multiple triples in a game. They also raised his season total to 48 makes from beyond the arc—exceeding his total from his first two seasons as a Vol (46).
In SEC play this season, Schofield ranks fifth in the league in total rebounding (6.9 rpg), seventh in defensive rebounding (5.0 drpg) and 10th in FG percentage (.463). All this while playing a new position (the wing) after spending his first two seasons as a frontcourt player.
Schofield is the second Vol to earn an SEC Player of the Week award this season. Sophomore forward Grant Williams received the honor on Jan. 15.
Lady Antebellum is appealing to the creative community—to the tune of $20,000—to create new videos for their current single, “Heart Break.”
Lady A has teamed with Genero, a software platform that sources video content, for the campaign and is offering $10,000 for the standout video and $2,000 to five runner-ups.
Lady A will hand-pick the winners and support the standout video on its social media channels.
To learn more about the competition, visit Genero.com.
Following the chart-topping success of “Losing Sleep,” Chris Young announced that his new single will be “Hangin’ On.”
Co-penned by Chris, Corey Crowder and Josh Hoge, “Hangin’ On” is the second single from Chris’ 2017 album, Losing Sleep.
Chris dropped a new video for the mid-tempo tune that features a couple enjoying a fun-in-the-sun vacation in Clearwater Beach, Fla., that caps with one of his concerts.
Chris recently concluded the first leg of his Losing Sleep World Tour, which will pick back up on April 19.
Reba McEntire will appear on CBS This Morning on March 1 at 8 a.m. ET to announce some of the nominees for the 53rd ACM Awards.
Reba will also appear live via her Facebook page prior to CBS This Morning to announce the nominees for Song of the Year. Additional nominees will be announced on ETonline.com at 8:50 a.m. ET.
The ACM Awards will air live from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 15, 2018 at 8 p.m. ET. on CBS.
The Academy of Country Music announced its roster of performers for the events surrounding ACM Awards weekend in Las Vegas on April 12–15. More than 40 country artists—including Thomas Rhett, Kelsea Ballerini, Kip Moore, Midland, Old Dominion and more—are scheduled to take the stage at various Vegas venues for the 6th annual Party for a Cause events.
Almost seven years after winning Season 10 of American Idol, Scotty McCreery has scored his first No. 1 single as “Five More Minutes” ascended to the top of both the Mediabase and Billboard Country Airplay charts.
Scotty co-penned the deeply personal tune with Frank Rogers and Monty Criswell two weeks after the death of his grandfather in 2015.
“There was a time I thought this song would never see the light of day,” says Scotty. “Seeing this song, inspired by my Granddaddy Bill, go gold and then become my first number one means the world to me! After writing it with Frank Rogers and Monty Criswell, I tweeted out that ‘I think I just wrote my favorite song I’ve ever written,’ and that still holds true today. Thank you to my fans, country radio, Triple 8 Management, Triple Tigers Records, my band and crew, and everyone on my team.”
“Five More Minutes” is the lead single from Scotty’s upcoming third album, Seasons Change, which will drop on March 16. The 11-song offering will be Scotty’s first album since 2013’s See You Tonight.
“In the last five years, I have grown from a teenager to a man, moved out on my own, lost my grandfather, proposed to the love of my life and learned more about myself than I could have imagined,” says Scotty. “This all shows up in the 11 songs on Seasons Change, and I cannot wait to share this music with my fans after such a long time between releases.”
If you want to catch the “Cowboy” onstage in 2018, you’d better get cracking.
George Strait is only scheduled to play a handful of dates this year, including stops in New Orleans, Austin and Tulsa.
However, there is good news coming out of George’s camp: he will close out 2018 with two newly announced shows at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and 8. The Strait To Vegas series started with six shows in 2016 and was extended with 10 more in 2017. The shows in December will be the last of 2018. Tickets go on sale on April 6.
Fellow Texans Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett will join George for the two shows in Vegas.
Cole Swindell will try to score his eighth career No. 1 single with the release of “Break Up In the End.”
Written by Jon Nite, Chase McGill and Jessie Jo Dillon, “Break Up in the End” is the lead single from Cole’s upcoming album, which follows his 2016 sophomore album, You Should Be Here.
“Knowing that everyone is about to hear this song is something I have been waiting on since the day I first heard it,” said Cole Swindell. “I am honored that my songwriting friends trust me with such an amazing message. I’m excited and confident in the strength of ‘Break Up In The End’ and it being the first song from my upcoming third album. This is the perfect set up of what’s to come.”
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — With Sunday’s 65-46 victory over #7/6 South Carolina, the #15/14 Tennessee women’s basketball team concluded the regular season at 23-6 overall and 11-5 in Southeastern Conference play. That league mark put the Lady Vols in a four-way tie for fourth place in the standings, but the tiebreaker dictated a No. 7 seed for Holly Warlick‘s squad in the upcoming SEC Tournament in Nashville.
UT will open play on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT (7 ET) vs. No. 10 seed Auburn (14-14, 5-11 SEC) at Bridgestone Arena. The SEC Network will televise.
The Lady Vols beat the Tigers, 70-59, on Jan. 4 in the teams’ second game of the SEC schedule. The winner of that game faces No. 2-seed South Carolina at 6 CT (7 ET) on Friday. That contest also will be carried by the SEC Network.
With 17 trophies, Tennessee has won the most SEC Tournament crowns by far. Vanderbilt is second with six. UT is 77-21 all-time in league tourney play, making two championship game appearances under Holly Warlick. UT won the 2014 SEC crown in Duluth, Ga., and fell to South Carolina in the championship game in Little Rock in 2015.
This marks the sixth time the SEC Tournament has taken place in Music City, with the Lady Vols claiming the hardware the last time it was held there (2012) as well as in 2011 and 2008. UT made the semifinals in 2004 and 2002.
Undefeated Mississippi State drew the No. 1 seed for this year’s tournament, while Georgia and LSU claimed the third and fourth spots and earned the automatic bye into Friday’s quarterfinal round.
Mercedes Russell – Lady Vols Forward / Credit: UT Athletics
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 15/14 Tennessee closed out the regular season Sunday with a 65-48 victory over No. 7/6 South Carolina in front of a crowd of 13,058 on senior day at Thompson-Boling Arena.
After a pregame ceremony that celebrated their tremendous careers in the orange and white, Mercedes Russell, Jaime Nared and Kortney Dunbar helped lead the Lady Vols (23-6, 11-5 SEC) to their third consecutive win against the Gamecocks (23-6, 12-4 SEC).
Russell recorded a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double, while Rennia Davis added 18 points and 10 boards for UT. Mikiah Herbert Harrigan led South Carolina with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
After a slow start on the offensive end, Tennessee opened the second half with a 14-0 run and grabbed all momentum. The Lady Vols overcame a 10-point second quarter deficit on Sunday, which was their largest comeback in any win this year.
Both teams had to work through offensive droughts in the first quarter. South Carolina went on an early 9-0 run over a 4:55 span after Russell opened the scoring with a pair of free throws, but the Tennessee defense was able to respond by holding the Gamecocks scoreless for the next 3:48. Although a Davis layup cut it to four late in the frame, the Lady Vols could not get much else going and were held to eight points, their lowest total in a first quarter this season.
UT’s offensive struggles continued in the early stages of the second period, as it did not record a point until nearly the halfway mark of the quarter. With six minutes left in the half, a jumper by Ladazhia Williams put the Gamecocks ahead by double digits. The Lady Vols closed out the half strong, however, outscoring USC 11-6 over the last five minutes. With 1:36 remaining in the half, an Evina Westbrook drive and floater off the glass made it a three-point contest. Despite putting up a season-low 21 points in the first half, a strong defensive effort from the Lady Vols kept the score within reach, as they went into the break trailing by five.
Herbert Harrigan led the Gamecocks in the first half with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Davis scored nine for UT, while Russell added eight points and six boards.
The Big Orange stormed out of the gate in the second half, opening the third quarter with a 14-0 run, highlighted by a Russell put-back that gave Tennessee its first advantage since leading 2-0. UT was clicking on all cylinders offensively and shot 65 percent from the field in the period. The Lady Vols continued to use a stingy effort on defense in limiting South Carolina to nine points and forcing five turnovers, as UT went into the final 10 minutes ahead 50-35.
Davis was sensational in the third quarter for the Lady Vols. The freshman scored nine points, including a deep 3-pointer as time expired, and hauled in four rebounds while providing energy on both ends of the floor. Davis put Tennessee up by 10 for the first time on a layup with just under five minutes remaining in the frame.
The Lady Vols continued to separate themselves in the fourth quarter, maintaining their double-digit advantage throughout. UT asserted itself on the glass and finished the game with 21 offensive rebounds to USC’s seven. A late 9-2 run capped off by a Dunbar 3-pointer with 1:36 remaining put Tennessee ahead by 22.
Meme Jackson finished with 10 points and two blocks, while Evina Westbrook added eight points and Nared chipped in six with five boards. Doniyah Cliney netted 14 for the Gamecocks including a pair of 3-pointers.
Russell’s double-double was her 14th in 2017-18, tying her for the most in a single season by a Lady Vol senior. She set the junior record last year.
Up Next: Tennessee will travel to Nashville to face Auburn in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday. The game is scheduled to tip at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) and will be televised on the SEC Network.
Starting Five: The Lady Vols started all three seniors against South Carolina for Senior Day, marking the first change to the starting lineup all season. The streak of 28 games with the same starting five is the longest Tennessee has ever opened a season with the same starting five since at least the 1977-78 season.
Third Quarter Fireworks: Tennessee opened the third quarter with a 14-0 run against South Carolina en route to outscoring the Gamecocks 29-9 in the period. UT also had a big third quarter against Florida, posting back-to-back runs of 14-0 and 10-0 while limiting the Gators to just two points.
In Good Company: With 16 points and 12 rebounds Mercedes Russell recorded her 14th double-double of the season against South Carolina, tying her with Shelia Collins, Lisa Harrison and Glory Johnson for the most double-doubles in a season by a Lady Vol senior. Russell set the junior record a year ago with 19. The senior now has 44 for her career, ranking behind only Chamique Holdslcaw (57) and Candace Parker (45) in UT history.
Davis Climbing The Double-Double List:Rennia Davis posted her eighth career double-double against South Carolina, putting her at sixth on the list for the most double-doubles recorded by a Lady Vol freshman. Tennessee players ahead of her on the list are Chamique Holdsclaw (16), Sheila Frost (11), Bashaara Graves (10), Candace Parker (10) and Tamika Catchings (9).
Warlick vs. Staley: With the win tonight Tennessee extends its winning streak over South Carolina to three games, and head coach Holly Warlick improves her record against Dawn Staley to 5-3. Warlick’s career SEC record (61-20, .753) ranks her first among all SEC women’s head coaches.
Admiral Schofieled – Vols forward / Credit: UT Athletics
OXFORD, Miss. — A career game by Admiral Schofield fueled No. 19 Tennessee to a win on the road against Ole Miss, 73-65, on Saturday afternoon at The Pavilion at Ole Miss.
Schofield set a new career-high for scoring with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting to go along with seven boards and three assists in 35 minutes of action. Jordan Bowden recorded15 points, four rebounds and a pair of steals for the Vols (21-7, 11-5 SEC).
The Rebels (12-17, 5-11 SEC) fought back from a 15-point halftime deficit by opening the second period on a 9-0 run to make it a 41-35 game and forcing UT to call a timeout at the 17-minute mark. Tennessee wouldn’t make its first second-half basket until a layup by Bowden with 14:24 on the clock.
After Ole Miss cut the game to seven, the Vols went on a 19-7 run to make it a 60-44 game with less than eight minutes remaining. During the stretch, Schofield scored nine points, while Lamonte Turner added six points on a pair of threes.
Tennessee extended its lead to 21 with a 14-2 run during the middle of the second half, but the Rebels would fight back to make it a 10-point game with only with a minute left. A pair of free throws by Bowden with 52 second left halted any chance of a comeback.
Turner, who was 4-for-4 during the final two minutes of play from the charity stripe, finished with 13 points, 10 of which came in the second half. Jordan Bone tied his career high for assists with eight while chipping in six points and four rebounds.
Breein Tyree led the Rebels with 17 points, while Bruce Stevens added 14 points seven rebounds in the game.
The Vols began the game on a 13-4 run before the first media timeout with a pair of 3-pointers from Bowden to spark the offense. Tennessee would end up extending its lead to as much as 20 points following a fast-break layup by Bone with 5:37 left to play, making the score 33-13.
In the frame, UT assisted on 13 of its 15 total baskets to help get the open shot, led by five from Bone. Schofield came out on fire, dropping 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor, while Bowden chipped in 11 points on three treys.
Behind six threes and 46-percent shooting (15-of-33), the Volunteers took a 41-26 lead into intermission.
UP NEXT: The Vols stay on the road for a game at Mississippi State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. UT then returns home for its regular-season finale in a rematch against Georgia on March 3 at 6 p.m. ET. Both games will be televised on SEC Network.
SHARING IS CARING: Entering Saturday’s contest, the Vols led the league during SEC play with 14.8 assists per game. Against the Rebels, UT improved that stat by dishing out 20 assists on 25 field goals in the matchup (80 percent). Bone led the way with a career-high-tying eight assists.
![Chris Young Releases Beachy Video for New Single, “Hangin’ On” [Watch]](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/1446/2018/02/05104644/Chris-Young.jpg#aqua_resizer_image_not_local)
However, there is good news coming out of George’s camp: he will close out 2018 with two newly announced shows at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and 8. The Strait To Vegas series started with six shows in 2016 and was extended with 10 more in 2017. The shows in December will be the last of 2018. Tickets go on sale on April 6.
