KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Six double-figure scorers for the second straight game and a dominant performance on the glass pushed the eighth-ranked Tennessee basketball team past Saint Joseph’s, 102-66, on Monday at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Tennessee (5-0) scored 100-plus points for the second consecutive game, marking the fourth time the Vols have eclipsed the century mark in back-to-back games in program history. The last time occurred in November of 2009, when Tennessee took down UNC Asheville, 124-49, and East Carolina, 105-66.
The Vols also led the Hawks (0-5) for all but 55 seconds of game action Monday, leading for the contest’s final 37:35.
On the boards, the Orange & White were relentless, posting a 45-27 edge in total rebounds and a 13-6 advantage on the offensive glass.
Victor Bailey Jr. led the Vols in scoring with a game-high 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting and a 6-of-7 mark from the foul line.
Sophomore Santiago Vescovi put together his most complete performance of the season, tallying 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting, a perfect 4-of-4 from both 3-point distance and the foul line, while also pulling in a season-high seven rebounds and dishing off five assists.
Senior John Fulkerson also enjoyed another productive performance, scoring 10 points, grabbing six rebounds and recording a career-high-tying five assists.
Fellow senior Yves Pons was huge on the boards, ripping down a game-high nine rebounds and scoring 13 points.
The UT freshman duo of Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer rounded out the Vols’ double-digit scorers, pouring in 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Johnson once again made a significant impact on the defensive end, blocking two shot attempts and nabbing three steals.
With the score tied at 4-4 just more than two minutes into the game, the Vols busted things open with a 16-0 run that covered nearly four minutes of action to take a 20-4 lead with 14 minutes remaining in the half.
The sides played an evenly paced remainder of the half, as the Vols withstood a number of punches from Saint Joseph’s before taking a 56-33 lead into the halftime break.
UT maintained a firm grip on the contest for the duration of the second half, stretching its lead to as many as 38 to cement the 36-point win.
Points Make a Difference: Tennessee has won its last three games by a combined 133 points, good enough for an average point differential of +44.3.
Up Next: Tennessee concludes its pre-holiday stretch of four games in nine days when it welcomes USC Upstate to Knoxville on Wednesday night for a holiday matinee. Tipoff from Thompson-Boling Arena is slated for 5 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
BOX SCORE | HIGHLIGHTS | QUOTES | BARNES POSTGAME | ANOSIKE POSTGAME | JOHNSON POSTGAME
-UT Athletics
