Josiah-Jordan James returns as No. 11 Tennessee rolls South Carolina again, 85-45

Josiah-Jordan James came back for No. 11 Tennessee Saturday night, and not a moment too soon. The senior wing, who missed the last four games with a sprained left ankle, scored 18 points in his return to lead the Vols to an 86-45 win over South Carolina at Thompson-Boling Arena. 

James scored his 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field, including 4-for-7 from the 3-point line in 21 minutes off the bench, helping Tennessee (21-8, 10-6 SEC) get back in the win column after dropping four of its last five games.

Zakai Zeigler had another double-double, his fifth of the season, with 13 points and 11 assists. Jahmai Mashack had 14 points and six rebounds, Olivier Nkamhoua added 10 points and eight boards and Uros Plavsic had 10 points of his own, going 5-for-5 from the field. Santiago Vescovi added seven points, four rebounds and four assists.

South Carolina (10-19, 3-13), which lost 85-42 to Tennessee at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia in January, got 18 points from Hayden Brown. Five-star freshman GG Jackson scored five points on 2-for-12 shooting. He went 2-for-20 with five points in the two games against Tennessee.

James checked in at the 14:12 mark of the first half and hit his first shot, a corner three, just 14 seconds later. He hit another three with 10:22 left in the first half, then added a midrange jumper two minutes later. He drove to the rim and scored with 25 seconds left in the half to build Tennessee’s lead to 38-26 at the break.

The Vols led by as many as 15 points in the first half, never playing from behind. They shot 57 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes and went 4-for-10 at the 3-point line, leading for 18 minutes, 35 seconds despite not shooting a single free throw, with only one foul called on South Carolina in the first half.

James had a team-high 10 points at the break, going 4-for-5 from the field and making his first three shots of the night. Plavsic had eight points on 4-for-4 shooting in the first half and Zeigler had eight of his own, going 3-for-3 from the field and 2-for-2 from the 3-point line. 

The lead was stretched to 21 on a Nkamhoua jumper with 15:20 left. It was 24 at the 10:32 mark, when Zeigler made an open three. It was 27 with 8:55 left, after Mashack pulled up for a deep, uncontested three of his own.

The lead was 30 with seven minutes left, 38 with 2:23 to go and hit 40 on a Tobe Awaka dunk with 1:11 left.

Julian Phillips (hip), Tyreke Key (ankle) miss game with injuries

Tennessee was still shorthanded despite the return of James, with five-star freshman wing Julian Phillips missing his fourth straight game with a hip flexor injury and graduate-transfer senior Tyreke Key sidelined by an ankle injury. 

Phillips went through a full pregame routine for a second straight game before ruled out. He injured his hip in practice on February 10 and attempted to play the following day in the 86-85 loss to Missouri in Knoxville, but stayed on the floor for just 10 minutes and did not play in the second half. 

Up Next: No. 11 Tennessee vs. Arkansas, Tuesday, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2

The Vols will have Senior Day on Tuesday against Arkansas, a 9 p.m. Eastern Time start at Thompson-Boling Arena. The game will be televised by ESPN2. The Razorbacks (19-10, 8-8 SEC) lost 86-83 at Alabama on Saturday afternoon and have dropped three of their last five, after losing six of nine games earlier this season.

Tennessee closes the regular-season schedule at Auburn (19-10, 9-7) on Saturday, a 2 p.m. ET start on ESPN. The Tigers lost 86-54 to Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Saturday, their seventh loss over their last 10 games. Auburn plays at Alabama on Wednesday night.