KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After losing back to back games, Tennessee rights the ship with a home win against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks, 75-53 the final. Head coach Rick Barnes made history along the way, picking up his 700th win in his 33-year coaching career.
Four Vols scored in double figures against the Gamecocks: Jordan Bowden (19), John Fulkerson (16), Yves Pons (11), and Josaiah-Jordan James (10).
The Vols moved the ball much better on Saturday than in games past - Tennessee racked up 25 assists, the most UT has had in a single game this season. The barrage of assists was led by redshirt senior Lamonte Turner. Turner finished with 11 assists, marking the third time he's dished out a double digit assist total. Turner is just the third player in program history with three games with 11 or more assists in the same season. There was some major news after the game however regarding Lamonte Turner. He told reporters his season done. He will have surgery on his shoulder. Turner has dealt with shoulder problems for much of the season as well as for much of his career.
Defensively, Tennessee returned to form, holding the Gamecocks to shoot just 37 percent from the field. To go along with his 11 points, Pons tied a program-record with six blocked shots, becoming just the seventh player in program history with six blocks in a single game.
Tennessee will play its next game against Wisconsin on Dec. 28 in Thompson-Boling Arena. Tipoff is at 1:30 p.m.