KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee men's basketball took care of business against Vanderbilt on Saturday night inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
The 19th-ranked Vols were on the cusp of double-digit leads a couple of times in the first half and finally did so with a little over four minutes to go in the half.
Tennessee led 28-24 with 7:22 left in the half before going on a 9-0 run. All nine points were scored by Zakai Ziegler, Jahmai Mashack and John Fulkerson. Tennessee held on to that double-digit lead going into halftime, 44-32.
The Vols had nine assists on 13 made field goals in the first half.
Vanderbilt fought back in the second half.
With the Vols leading 50-39 with 16:18 left in the second half, the Commodores made a move. Jordan Wright hit a three and the next possession Myles Stute hit another to get Vanderbilt, which began a 12-2 run. Scotty Pippen Jr. scored the final bucket of the run to make it a one-point game with the Vols leading 52-51.
Tennessee responded on their next possession down the court. John Fulkerson made a layup and was also fouled. He completed the and-one play to extend the lead to 55-51.
Tennessee held onto that four-point lead. A pivotal point came with the Vols up 63-59 with over four minutes left in the game. A little under a minute prior Kennedy Chandler picked up his fourth foul. To that point, he hadn't scored a point and also had four turnovers compared to two assists.
He then scored three straight buckets to get it back to a double-digit lead at 69-59 with 3:02 left in regulation. The arena went bonkers.
Vanderbilt trimmed the lead down to five, but the Vols held on and closed it out from the free-throw line.
Ziegler led all Vols scorers with 16 points and also dished out five assists. Josiah- Jordan James had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Fulkerson had 12 points and six rebounds.
Pippen Jr. had 23 points for Vanderbilt.
That is Tennessee's 10th straight win over Vanderbilt.
The Vols are now 18-6 overall and 93 in conference play. They have won seven straight SEC games.
Tennessee plays Kentucky next on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. inside Thompson-Boling Arena. That game is sold out,
You can watch the Vols speak about the game below:
