It wasn’t pretty, but Tennessee (15-11, 7-6 SEC) took care of business at home against Vanderbilt (9-17, 1-12 SEC) on Tuesday night with a 65-61 win over the Commodores.
After a slow first half, John Fulkerson led Tennessee in the second, scoring 14 points in the final 9:37. He finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in 31 minutes.
Jordan Bowden also scored 17 points and was 7-7 from the free throw line, including two clutch free throws with five seconds left that iced the game. He added five assists and grabbed four rebounds.
Santiago Vescovi scored 14 points and seven assists, but turned it over six times.
Rick Barnes said of Vescovi after the game, “He can’t continue to turn it over six times. Three of his were ridiculous turnovers. I tell him he’s not respecting the game the way he needs to respect the game.”
Freshman Josiah James didn’t score, but grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots in 13 minutes of action.
“I’m not real happy with the way we started the game and I wasn’t very happy with the way we finished the game,” Barnes said.
Admiral Schofield was in attendance and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Leave your comments: The Official Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt Game Thread, 6:30 PM ET, SEC Network