No. 7 Tennessee runs over Eastern Kentucky
The start to the game left a lot to be desired for No. 7 Tennessee Wednesday night against visiting Eastern Kentucky. The Vols were wide awake to start the second half, though.
Tyreke Key had eight points in the first 90 seconds after halftime, as Tennessee came out of the locker room with a 10-0 run and put Eastern Kentucky away for good in an 84-49 win at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Key scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half to lead Tennessee (8-1) to a seventh straight win. Five-star freshman wing Julian Phillips had his first career double-double, scoring 16 points while grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds. Key left the game with 6:15 left, appearing to injure his right leg.
Olivier Nkamhoua had 10 points and eight rebounds, Uros Plavsic had 13 points and seven boards and Zakai Zeigler had 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals off the bench.
Eastern Kentucky (4-5) got 13 points from Leland Walker.
It was a 26-6 run after EKU guard Cooper Robb picked up a technical foul, leading to two Key free throws and then a Nkamhoua dunk, making it a 23-point lead with 16:51 left.
Vols led by 11 points at halftime after a slow start
Tennessee’s 32-21 lead at halftime was its biggest advantage of the game after an ugly first half. The Vols committed 10 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes and shot just 23.5 percent from the floor and 13.3 percent from the 3-point line.
Eastern Kentucky’s offense was worse, shooting 20.7 percent from the field and 11.8 percent from the 3-point line while committing nine turnovers. EKU led for five minutes, 53 seconds in the first half after jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the opening two minutes.
Phillips had eight points and eight rebounds in the first half to lead Tennessee at the break. Uros Plavsic and Key scored five each and Zeigler and Nkamhoua had four each.
Tennessee out-rebounded Eastern Kentucky 32-19 in the first half, scoring 14 second-chance points and seven points off turnovers.
Santiago Vescovi (shoulder sprain) misses second straight game
The Vols were missing senior shooting guard Santiago Vescovi for a second straight game due to a shoulder sprain.
Vescovi has a “Level 2” sprain in his left, shooting shoulder, head coach Rick Barnes said Monday night during his weekly appearance on The Vol Network’s ‘Vol Calls’ radio show.
“He felt better (on Monday),” Barnes said a day removed from Vescovi not dressing for the seventh-ranked Vols in their 94-40 win over Alcorn State at Thompson-Boling Arena. “Santi is the kind of guy that if you asked him to play, he would say, yeah, I’ll play. He’s just a tough guy. He would play though anything.
“He’s got a Level 2 sprain there in the shoulder,” Barnes said of the injury Vescovi suffered late in the 74-40 win over McNeese State last week, “came down against his left arm.”
Up Next
Tennessee travels to New York on Friday and will face No. 13 Maryland (8-1) on Sunday for a Hall of Fame Invitational game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and the game will be televised by Fox Sports 1.
The Terps started the season 8-0 before losing 64-59 at Wisconsin on Tuesday.
The Vols have no midweek game next week, taking a break for finals on campus, then play their first true road game of the season on December 17 at No. 10 Arizona, a 10:30 p.m. ET game on ESPN2.
