Auburn’s Run To #1 Has Been No Surprise
COLUMBIA, SC — Tennessee completed the season sweep of South Carolina, using a monster second half to blow the Gamecocks out, 81-57.
Here’s three quick takeaways.
Who Is That Josiah Jordan James?
There’s plenty of good things you can say about Josiah Jordan James basketball game. A really good offensive player? I’m not sure you can say that.
But for the second straight game, James provided a great offensive output. This time, James was the Vols’ go-to option on the offensive side of the court.
The junior took four of Tennessee’s first six shots, making a pair of triples and didn’t look back. James’ 15-point first half was good enough for a season high and the wing overtook his 18-point career high in the second half.
It was one thing for James to shoot well from three-point range. While he’s far from a great shooter he’s shown he’s capable of getting hot from deep and is shooting over 40% from beyond the arc in the last eight games.
But James also made difficult mid range jump shots that we just haven’t seen from the lefty.
The Charleston, South Carolina native tallied 20 points on seven-of-14 shooting.
While we are unsure who the Josiah Jordan James that showed up on the offensive end was, we’ve see the James that showed up on the defensive end plenty.
The junior did all the little things well and was a defensive force recording three blocks and three steals.
Zakai Zeigler. The Spark.
Tennessee freshman point guard Zakai Zeigler could not have played much worse than he did in the first half. Zeigler missed all four shots from the floor — including an easy transition layup — while turning it over twice.
As the point guard has proven time-and-time again in his short time in Knoxville, he is as mentally tough as they come and has a short memory.
With Tennessee leading by just three early in the second half, the 5-foot-9 point guard got a steal, started the transition break and ended it with a confident three.
South Carolina tried to race up the court with a long pass, John Fulkerson swatted it to Kennedy Chandler who led the break, finding Zeigler on the right elbow again. Bottom, again.
South Carolina coach Frank Martin called a timeout, but it did nothing to slow down the run or Tennessee’s growing momentum.
Starting with the two triples, Zeigler scored 10 straight points for the Vols. The run pushed Tennessee’s lead to double digits, but neither Zeigler or the Vols were done.
The New York native scored 18 second half points including 13 points in a 3:19 stretch that blew the Gamecocks out of the gym. Tennessee used an extended 29-9 run to take the life out of Colonial Life Arena and to put the Gamecocks away.
Defense Dominates In Second Half
This third and final point shouldn’t come as a massive surprise as South Carolina is not a strong offensive team, but Tennessee took the life out of Gamecocks’ offense in the second half.
South Carolina scored eight points in the first three and a half minutes of the second half, and then Tennessee found another gear.
South Carolina scored just 28 second half points as Tennessee’s defense took everything they wanted away from them. The Vols tallied seven steals and used that to get in transition and open up opportunities for their offense.
In total, South Carolina made just seven-of-24 shots from the field in the second half, turned it over seven times and scored nearly 40% of its points at the free throw line.
Tennessee’s offense made the second half a show, but the defense made sure South Carolina’s chances were over.
