No. 5 Tennessee rallies in second half to beat Vanderbilt, 77-68
After winning its last two Southeastern Conference games by a combined 77 points, No. 5 Tennessee had work to do in the second half against Vanderbilt Tuesday night. The Vols answered the bell after halftime, scoring nine straight points after the break and running away with an 77-68 win at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Santiago Vescovi scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half to lead Tennessee (14-2, 4-0 SEC). Five-star freshman Julian Phillips had 15 and Uros Plavsic added 11 points and six rebounds.
Tyreke Key and Jonas Aidoo scored eight points each, Josiah-Jordan James scored six off the bench and Zakai Zeigler ran the offense, recording nine assists to go with seven points and four rebounds.
Vanderbilt (8-8, 1-2) got 18 points from forward Liam Robbins, Jordan Wright scored 13 and guard Noah Shelby had 12.
Tennessee started the second half on a 9-0 run as Vandy missed its first five shots after halftime. Uros Plavsic dunked with 9:54 left, after being left free on the block, to get the lead to 12 at 58-46, the biggest advantage of the game for the Vols at the time.
Tyreke Key started the run with a bucket, followed by two Phillips free throws then a Phillip midrange jumper. Key followed with a three and, after Jordan Wright scored for Vandy, Zeigler hit a three to get the lead to eight. It was 10 after two Olivier Nkamhoua free throws with 14:47 remaining.
Vols gave up season-high 39 points in first half
Wright scored in transition to beat the halftime horn and give Vanderbilt a 39-37 lead at halftime. It was the most points Tennessee has allowed in a first half this season — Arizona scored 35 on December 17 — and only the second time the Vols had trailed at the break.
Vandy didn’t score for the first four and a half minutes, but ended up shooting 41.9 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from the 3-point line, going 5-for-13.
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Shelby had 12 points in the first half, going 3-for-4 from the arc and Robbins had 11 after scoring Vandy’s first nine points.
Aidoo had eight points to lead Tennessee in the first half, Phillips scored seven and Zeigler had six assists. The Vols, who led by as many as nine points in the opening half, shot 51.9 percent from the field and went 3-for-12 from the 3-point line but couldn’t consistently get stops on the defensive end.
Up Next: No. 5 Tennessee vs. Kentucky, Saturday, Noon ET, ESPN
Tennessee hosts Kentucky in the first of the two annual meetings between the two rivals. The Wildcats have lost two straight after South Carolina went to Rupp Arena Tuesday night and won 71-68. The Gamecocks entered the game as a 19-point underdog. Kentucky, which lost 78-52 at Alabama on Saturday, had won 28 straight home games before the upset.
Rick Barnes is 10-7 in 17 games as Tennessee’s head coach against Kentucky, winning five of seven meetings at Thompson-Boling Arena. His teams have beat the Wildcats three times in Lexington and twice in the SEC Tournament.
The Vols were 2-1 against Kentucky last season, losing 107-79 at Rupp, then bouncing back with a 76-63 win in Knoxville and a 69-62 win in the SEC Tournament in Tampa.
Kentucky is unranked and is No. 44 overall in the KenPom.com ratings. The Cats are No. 93 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 19 in adjusted offensive efficiency.
