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Jerry Stackhouse: Tennessee 'is the best team in the SEC'

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•01/11/23•

GrantRamey

Vanderbilt v Missouri
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - JANUARY 07: Head coach Jerry Stackhouse of the Vanderbilt Commodores directs his team against the Missouri Tigers the first half at Mizzou Arena on January 07, 2023 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)

Rick Barnes didn’t sound all that surprised that No. 5 Tennessee was trailing Vanderbilt at halftime Tuesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena. The game the Vols got is the game the Vols expected.

“Well, I’ve said it, and I think every time we play against Vanderbilt it proves what I’ve always said about them,” Barnes said after the Vols came back to win 77-68, “Jerry Stackhouse, he’s a terrific coach. His guys execute. They don’t turn the ball over. They don’t beat themselves. When they’re making shots, like any team, it makes everything better for everybody when they’re making shots.”

Tennessee gave up 39 points in the first half against Vanderbilt, the most it has allowed in a first half this season, and trailed by two, only the second halftime deficit of the season.

The Commodores shot 41.9 percent from the field and went 5-for-13 from the 3-point line in the first half, going from not scoring over the first four and a half minutes and trailing by nine to leading at the break after Jordan Wright went the length of the floor to beat the buzzer on a transition layup. 

Vols 4-0 in SEC play, best start in league play since 2018-19

“The last play in the first half,” Barnes said, “was one of the worst plays since I’ve been here. Let somebody, with that time on the clock, drove the ball the length of the floor and nobody stopped the ball. That can’t happen.”

Tennessee (14-2, 4-0 SEC) scored the first nine points of the second half to take control and led by as many as 17 points after halftime. 

What Stackhouse saw from the Vols is what he already knew about Barnes’ team.

“In my mind, (Tennessee) is the best team in the SEC,” Stackhouse said. “Right now, they’re playing the best basketball. They’re defending at a super high level. They’re making shots. They’re playing inside out. They’re doing all the things that great basketball teams do.”

Up Next: No. 5 Tennessee vs. Kentucky, Saturday, Noon ET, ESPN

Tennessee improved to 4-0 in SEC play, the best conference start since going 11-0 in 2018-19. Tennessee ended Tuesday first in the SEC standings, a half game ahead of 3-0 Alabama, which plays at Arkansas Wednesday. 

The Vols went 14-4 in SEC play last year, finishing second in the regular-season standings before winning the SEC Tournament for the first time since 1979. They’ve won 11 in a row against Vanderbilt under Barnes.

Santiago Vescovi scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half to get past Vanderbilt Tuesday. Five-star freshman Julian Phillips scored 15 points and Uros Plavsic had 11 points and six rebounds. Tyreke Key and Jonas Aidoo scored eight each and Zakai Zeigler scored seven points and had nine assists to go with four rebounds. 

Josiah-Jordan James scored seven points off the bench and Olivier Nkamhoua scored six.

“There are pros on that team,” Stackhouse said. “There are guys that are going to play at the next level. When they had opportunities one-on-one, they turned around and they made shots.

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