Tennessee survived its worst shooting night in SEC men's basketball this season, holding on for a 69-62 win over Vanderbilt Wednesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.

"That's the biggest win we've had this year for lots of reasons,'' said UT coach Bruce Pearl, sporting a bright orange blazer for the first time this season. "When you beat (Florida, Kentucky or Vanderbilt), it counts twice, because it's a win for you and a loss for them.''

The No. 13 Vols (15-3, 6-1 SEC) shot 36.2-percent against the Commodores and snapped Vanderbilt's three-game win streak in the series.

Vanderbilt (12-6, 3-4) has lost four of its past five games this season.

UT took the lead for good when Dane Bradshaw split a pair of free throws to make it 59-58 at the 3:02 mark. Vols' center Major Wingate made it 61-58 on UT's next trip down the floor with a bucket inside.

Vanderbilt didn't get a chance to answer: C.J. Watson drew an offensive foul on Derrick Byars. Moments later, JaJuan Smith dropped a 3-pointer from the corner to extend the lead to 64-58 with 1:03 left, effectively sealing Vanderbilt's fate.

Smith's basket was the Vols' final 3-pointer on a night when UT connected on a season-low four 3-pointers on 20 attempts.

Wingate matched Vanderbilt's DeMarre Carroll for scoring honors with 16 points. Wingate scored 14 of his points in the second half, feeding off a rowdy crowd of 17,609.

"Major played huge in the second half,'' said Bradshaw, who scored 10 points and matched his career-high with 12 rebounds for a double-double. "He's a guy who can really feed off the crowd. Once he gets in a zone, he can play to his potential.''

Wingate said a Monday meeting with Pearl triggered his performance.

"I just felt like I was one step behind,'' said Wingate, whose 29 minutes were his most since the Memphis game, four games ago on Jan. 18. "I just felt slow and out of character. Meeting with coach Pearl, I got a lot of things off my chest.''

Wingate helped keep the Commodores off the Vols' backs by hitting 6-of-8 free throws over the final 20 minutes.

Vanderbilt's defense was smothering in holding Watson and Chris Lofton to a combined 5-of-19 shooting effort.

UT, which trailed by as many as eight points when Shan Foster hit a jumper to open the second half, capitalized by using the Commodores' aggression against them. The Vols attempted 32 free throws to Vanderbilt's five.

"You can't overcome getting outscored 23-to-2 at the free throw line,'' said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings, who contributed to the Vols' cause by getting hit with a technical foul in the first half. "And you can't overcome missing shots when you need to make shots.''

As efficient as the Commodores were in building a 33-27 half-time lead — shooting 55.6-percent and canning 3-of-7 3-pointers — they were just as ineffective over the final 20 minutes, shooting 40.6-percent from the floor and hitting 1-of-13 3-pointers.

"I think conditioning was a factor,'' Pearl said. "And it was about being patient. In the first half, Vandy was patient. In the second half we were patient. Look at the shooting numbers.''

Wingate, whose thunderous dunk capped an 8-0 run early in the second half that tied the game at 35-35 at the 16:38 mark, was the only UT player to shoot better than 50 percent, making 5-of-6 attempts.

"Despite how good everybody says we are, we're not always going to have a great night shooting," Wingate said. "That's why it's a team game and we've got to back each other up. We have a lot of weapons, and they can't guard all of them.

"When I get in my zone, I can dominate the game on both sides of the court.''

Still, it was Vanderbilt controlling the boards, out-rebounding the Vols 43-33.

Wingate, who had just three rebounds, said that means he'll need a good night's rest.

"Coach (Pearl) is a perfectionist,'' Wingate said. "I think we'll have a hard practice tomorrow (today).''

Orange Slices: Bradshaw's 10 points and 12 rebounds mark his third double-double of the season. ... Andre Patterson (eight points, 11 rebounds) fell two points short of becoming the first UT player to record four consecutive double-doubles since Steve Hamer did it in 1995. ... The Vols shot under 40 percent for the fourth time this season, but they are 3-1 in those games — defeating Vandy, Murray State, Lipscomb and losing to Memphis.