Tennessee cruises in exhibition, 78-47

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photo via @Vol_Photos
In its final exhibition game of the 2013-14 season, Tennessee cruised past Southern Indiana 78-47 on Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Jordan McRae led Tennessee with 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals in 23 minutes of action.

The Vols shot less than lights-out on the night, managing just 36% from the field (28-77), but out-rebounded the Screaming Eagles by a considerable margin and only turned the ball over five times.

“I thought we had good looks in the first half,” Cuonzo Martin said. “We didn’t shoot it well but I thought we had the looks, but then again when you rebound it like that where you make a conscious effort for our 3, 4 and 5 to crash the glass I thought they did a solid job with that. We didn’t get as many assists as we would have liked, but I thought we did a good job of not turning the ball over.”

No Southern Indiana player scored in double figures.

With Memphis-transfer Antonio Barton still out with a leg injury, true freshman Darius Thompson started his second straight-game at point guard. Barton is expected back at practice on Saturday.

After a 17-point performance in his exhibition debut on Saturday, freshman Robert Hubbs scored nine points and grabbed two rebounds.

Tennessee led by 15 points after the first eight minutes of the game and pushed the lead to as many as 33.

This year’s rule changes have been a big topic of discussion. Coach Martin said he thinks we will have a better idea of the rule’s impact once the regular season begins.

“I think we will find out Tuesday,” Martin said. “It is just how the game is officiated out the gates and we will go from there. We want to stay aggressive. We will make adjustments. When you have a guy like Jarnell (Stokes) sit out for so long in the first half it can have an effect on guys in ways like that. You have to defend and play hard. I just hope there is consistency on the block and I have said that from the beginning.”

The Vols open the regular season against Xavier on November 12th. That game tips off at 9 p.m. and will be televised by Fox Sports 1.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

CUONZO POSTGAME INTERVIEW

POSTGAME PLAYER INTERVIEWS

Jordan McRae

Josh Richardson

Rawane ‘Pops’Ndiaye
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