John Clay’s Sidelines

Bobby Maze

A key for Kentucky on Tuesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena could be containing Tennessee point guard Bobby Maze, the junior college point guard who is coming off possibly his best game of the season.

The former Oklahoma Sooner contributed 16 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals to the Vols’ come-from-behind 86-77 win at Georgia on Saturday. The Allen Iverson-look alike — Maze wears No. 3; has the cornrows and the tattoos — made some key plays down the stretch, scoring 11 of his 16 points in the second half. His three-pointer with 9:07 left pulled the Vols to within 61-58. He fed Tyler Smith for a jam that kept the Vols within five, at 67-62. He fed Cameron Tatum for a basket as part of the Vols’ 13-0 run that put the game away over the final three minutes.

Maze did all that after a forceful pep talk from Tennessee assistant Steve Forbes, according to Wes Rucker of the Chattanooga Times Free Press and Mike Strange in the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

An excerpt from Strange’s column:

Good point-guard play elevates a team. Tennessee hadn’t been getting much of it for a few games. Maze had been struggling, to put it mildly.

It’s never a good sign when your point guard goes 36 minutes without an assist and shoots 1-of-9. That was Maze’s forlorn box score against Gonzaga on Wednesday. Maybe one assist and UT wins in regulation rather than losing 89-79 in overtime.

So when Maze went a ho-hum 13 minutes in the first half Saturday without an assist, Steve Forbes had seen enough.

UT’s once 11-point lead was down to 36-32 at the break. When the teams went back on the court to warm up, Forbes grabbed Maze by the jersey and pulled him over to the bench.

An excerpt from Rucker’s story:

“I can’t repeat what I said … but I meant it,” said Forbes, who played a pivotal role in signing Maze out of Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College.

“I expect more from Bobby, and he knows that,” Forbes continued. “He’s the kind of kid who could handle it. He’s tough.”

Maze didn’t repeat many specifics of Forbes “pep talk,” either, but the gist is that it started with a grabbed jersey and ended with a Southeastern Conference road victory.

And with rival Kentucky (12-4, 1-0 SEC) arriving in town today for a Tuesday night showdown, it might have given the Vols (10-4, 1-0) a better chance of getting an early leg up in the Eastern Division race.

“Coach Forbes … grabbed me before the second half and said, ‘This is what you’re here for,’” Maze said. “I hadn’t been playing well, and in order for us to win, I’m going to have to play well. He grabbed my chest, and that meant a lot to me, because he could have easily just not said anything to me.

“By him getting on me, that put a lot of pride in me and led me to a good second half.”

Maze’s last four games: