Porter Moser 2-12 (Post-Kansas)
Tennessee jumped on Vanderbilt in the first half and withstood a Commodores’ second half push to win, 73-64.
Here’s three quick takeaways on Tennessee’s 10th straight win over Vanderbilt.
True Team Effort
Coming off three straight wins including an emotional victory at Mississippi State and a rematch with Kentucky on Tuesday, this easily could have been a game where Tennessee didn’t come out dialed in and allowed the instate Commodores to hang around.
That was not the case as nearly everyone Tennessee played was locked in and made a positive contribution.
Tennessee included its platoon substitution system for its big men, playing Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Uros Plavsic, John Fulkerson and Jonas Aidoo in the game’s first five minutes. All four of the big men scored in their first run on the court.
In fact, 10 of the 11 players that played for Tennessee in the first half scored. The only Vol that didn’t was Kennedy Chandler. The fact that Tennessee scored 44 first half points without the five-star point guard scoring shows just how far this team’s come.
Jahmai Mashack gave Tennessee strong minutes, playing good defense and finishing an and-one. Aidoo continues to show he belongs playing at this level, tallying four minutes.
Tennessee’s offense was balanced in the win, with four Vols scoring in double-figures.
Vanderbilt Makes It A Game With A Second Half Run
Santiago Vescovi drove the baseline, somehow finding Zeigler at the top of the key. When the freshman guard drilled the open triple to give Tennessee a 50-34 lead just three minutes into the second half the game seemed all, but over.
However, from that moment Vanderbilt mounted a massive comeback that made the Vols’ sweat.
Vanderbilt made three-pointers on three straight possessions, immediately catapulting them back in the game. From there, it was a slow run of strong offense and poor Tennessee shooting. The Vols got open looks but failed to capitalize. Mix that in with bad turnovers and Vanderbilt had a 17-2 run to cut Tennessee’s lead to 52-51.
Commodores’ star Scotty Pippen Jr. gave Zakai Zeigler issues, scoring six straight points on the run, mostly posting up and shooting over the 5-foot-9 guard.
Tennessee wouldn’t allow Vanderbilt to take the lead thanks to a John Fulkerson and-one that gave the Vols a little bit of separation.
Still, the run completely changed the game and the Vols wouldn’t truly find any separation from their instate rivals until there was under four minutes left in the game.
Tennessee Gets It Done With Defense
In the last three games and frequently the last few weeks, Tennessee’s offense has carried the load, turning in elite performances in wins.
Saturday’s matchup looked like it was going to be the same way. The Vols scored 44 first half points without an out of the world shooting performance. Tennessee’s offense was just humming and producing open looks nearly every time down the court.
However, the offensive struggles that have followed this Tennessee team all season showed up again in the second half. The Vols scored just 29 second half points, allowing Vanderbilt to make a massive second half run.
Tennessee finally found the separation it was looking for with around five minutes to play. The Vols went on an 8-0 run to push their lead from two to 10 in just 1:59. Chandler — who hadn’t previously scored — tallied six straight points in the stretch from Tennessee.
But even after Vanderbilt took a timeout with 3:01 to play, it was Tennessee’s defense that had to get the Vols to the finish line.
Tennessee wouldn’t make a field goal the rest of the game while the Vols got five stops and Josiah-Jordan James buried four free throws to secure the win.
