PEACH BOWL CLASSIC Higgins' buzzer-beater paces Tennessee past Georgia Tech

Temple topped Penn State, 65-63.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Tennessee Volunteers finally got a chance to be the team doing the celebrating after a buzzer-beater.
Tennessee lost four games last season when an opponent hit a 3-pointer at the end of regulation.
Last Sunday, Jon Higgins ended that trend with a shot from beyond midcourt as the clock ran out to give Tennessee a 70-69 victory over Georgia Tech in the Peach Bowl Classic.
"It's one of those shots kids dream about," Higgins said. "I was watching it and praying that it went in. I just hope we don't have to be in this position again, but we'll take it."
After last season, the Volunteers should take it and run.
The four shots that led to Tennessee losses last season were: Reece Gaines of Louisville hitting a 3 with 1.8 seconds left in the Cardinals' 73-72 win; Jonathan Hargett of West Virginia hitting a 3 with 4.3 seconds left in the Mountaineers' 74-72 victory; Brett Nelson of Florida hit a 3 with 3.1 seconds left in regulation to tie the game. The Gators went on to a 104-100 victory; and Ezra Williams of Georgia picked up a loose ball and hit a 3 as time expired in the Bulldogs' 73-70 victory.
"It's a crazy game, the game of basketball," Volunteers coach Buzz Peterson said. "It was a heck of a shot. It was just one of those things."
Temple was off to the worst start in school history and Owls coach John Chaney was briefly hospitalized with pneumonia.
That left assistant Nate Blackwell in charge for the Owls' game at Penn State last Wednesday. Blackwell scrapped the team's trademark matchup zone defense for straight man-to-man and Temple got its first win of the season with a 65-63 victory of the Nittany Lions.
Chaney missed Temple's loss at Illinois last weekend but will be back on the bench for the Owls' next game, Dec. 28 at home against No. 6 Indiana.