No. 8 Tennessee rolls to blowout win over Vanderbilt

Tennessee / Knoxville (AP) – On Saturday night, Dalton Knecht and Zakai Zeigler each scored fourteen points to lead No. 8 Tennessee over Vanderbilt, 88-53.

For the thirteenth time in their previous fourteen encounters, the Volunteers (19-6, 9-3 Southeastern Conference) defeated the Commodores (7-18, 2-10) thanks to 13 points from Josiah-Jordan James, 12 from Santiago Vescovi, and 11 points and 8 rebounds from Jonas Aidoo.

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes remarked, “(A performance like this) comes from a lot of respect we have for Vanderbilt.” “Our senior guys have played with them in a lot of difficult games. Our boys got ready so they could compete.

On 33 baskets, Tennessee got 28 assists.

Barnes stated, “That’s when we’re at our best.” When we share the ball in that way, it makes us very happy. I believed that our guys were truly confined.

Vanderbilt’s Ven-Allen Lubin led the team with ten points.

Coach Jerry Stackhouse of the Commodores stated, “(Tennessee) played as they have all year.”

Tennessee jumped out to a 13-3 lead after making five of their six shots. The Vols were ahead 23-7 after making nine of their first twelve shots.

With James and Knecht each scoring ten points at the half, Tennessee led 51–20.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores’ next move will be consistency. They had a five-point lead over Tennessee at the half earlier in the season, but they eventually fell by double digits. This week, Vanderbilt had an underwhelming performance at Tennessee after shocking Texas A&M at the buzzer.

Tennessee: The Volunteers will need to improve on the boards if they are to live up to the high expectations placed on them by many for their tournament success in March. Tenn had been outrebounded in five of its eleven SEC games coming into the Vanderbilt game. Out of the five games, two ended in defeat.