Tennessee Men's Basketball
Twists, turnarounds and treys were the order of the day for Tennessee’s Tyler Smith.
Smith scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Vols to a 69-50 victory over Vanderbilt before an announced crowd of 20,375 at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday.
Tennessee used an early 14-0 run to take command of the game and led by as many as 20 points in the second half to hold on to a share of the SEC East Division lead.
Tennessee improved to 7-3 in SEC play, as did South Carolina and Kentucky with their wins Saturday. Florida lost at Georgia to fall a game back.
The Vols (16-8) snapped a three-game winning streak by the Commodores (15-9, 4-6).
“This was a good step for us,’’ UT coach Bruce Pearl said. “I talked to the players (Friday) night and today (Saturday) about honoring the game, and honoring the men who came back here (for the All-Century Team) who remember that rivalry with Vanderbilt.’’
Smith, a 6-foot-7 junior forward, also remembered his bread-and-butter move — the turnaround jumper.
“I had gotten away from my game a bit, and I wasn’t doing what I do best,’’ said Smith, who made 10 of 13 shots. “That (shot) is something I can hit, it’s like a layup for me.
“It feels good to me.”
It looked good, too, as did the play of J.P. Prince.
Prince flirted with a triple-double, scoring eight points while pulling down 10 rebounds and dishing out seven assists.
Prince also had three blocked shots and three steals and was seemingly all over the court.
“J.P. Prince is very special on the ball (defensively),’’ Pearl said. “He’s like Gumby with those long arms, or go-go (Inspector) Gadget.’’
Prince said the 23 Vanderbilt turnovers the Vols forced (on the heels of forcing 25 against Georgia) is a function of team defense as much as individual effort.
“I think we’ve just picked up our half-court defense,’’ Prince said. “Our young players are starting to understand it and talk more.’’
Pearl praised point guards Bobby Maze and Josh Tabb for holding Vanderbilt point guard Jermaine Beal to three points on 1-of-10 shooting and forcing him to make five turnovers while dishing out just one assist.
“The best way to defend the post is to pressure the ball on the perimeter,’’ Pearl said. “We tried to limit their touches (inside), and Josh and Bobby did a great job on Beal.’’
The Vols held a 26-18 lead at the half despite early shooting woes. UT made only 9 of 26 shots from the floor and 6 of 14 from the free-throw line through the first 20 minutes.
The Vols’ 14-0 run put them up 19-6 on an Emmanuel Negedu dunk at the 10:25 mark.
The Commodores scrambled back into contention by halftime, thanks in part to UT missing seven consecutive free throws.
The Vols used a 7-0 burst five minutes into the second half to put the game away. Brian Williams’ steal and layup capped the run and put Vandy down 40-24 with 14:36 left.
The Commodores failed to draw within single digits the remainder of the game.
Tennessee returns to action at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Ole Miss. The Rebels are 10-2 at home this year, and Oxford is one of two SEC venues where Pearl has yet to win.
Rocky Top League opening night
Old school: Archived photos of UT…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 148
appalachianvol writes:
We need to get the clock fixed!! No need to stop when you're hot. Can't blame Coach P. for beign upset.
Go Big Orange!
mallardbayvol writes:
KNS, the final score was 69-50, not 76-63. Can you please change the score in the title of this column. Jeez
ULTIMATEVOLUNTEER writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
ULTIMATEVOLUNTEER writes:
who in the world is a Tyler hater? surely you're kidding.
VOLorado writes:
Nashville?
dwa7#337691 writes:
wow......GA BULLDOGS WON!!!!!
Go vols....
HtownVol writes:
Smith played great today. Hope he keeps it up!
ULTIMATEVOLUNTEER writes:
anybody doubting Tyler Smith is a COMPLETE FOOL! UT would be in deep trouble without him or Chism.
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
A great win! However, I think we may be better off down the stretch with just a 7 man rotation. We don't press as much now, so players shouldn't be winded.
I just think Woolridge, Williams, and Tatum hurt the team more than they help. They need to get more practice time in and improve before increasing their minutes.
tnman1025 writes:
Awesome game today Vols, my only disappointment was that Prince couldn't get his career high in rebounds today. He tied the previous high early in the second half. Oh well, everyone played well, had intensity and looked like they were determined to win.
Also, even though Chism wasn't a huge factor today, he sure was getting in people's faces today, ha ha. Gotta love that. It's seems to me, and I know we haven't played the greatest teams in the last two games, but we are doing a better job on both sides of the ball. We seem to be piercing the zone more often and our defensive intensity hasn't seen a better two game stretch with only giving up 48 and 50 in those games.
Here's to hoping we keep that momentum going and steamroll through Ole Miss on Saturday!
Waldorf writes:
Can't wait for the Florida vermin to show up......bet it's Monday again before any of them do. I'm sure they all had to tend to their third-cousin's-brother-in-law's-mom's-great niece's-uncle's mom-twice-removed over the weekend. That'll be their excuse anyway.
tnman1025 writes:
jhayes, I would completely agree with you on Woolridge, he looks completely lost on the court when he is there. As for Williams and Tatum, did you see that block Tatum had in the second half of the game today? The guy had a sure dunk and Tatum came flying in and knocked it clean out of his hand. To me, Tatum provides enough to warrant a spot on the floor for a decent amount. He will get you a few threes most of the time and plays pretty good defense.
I think Williams is the most critical one that you mentioned. He is the only other big we really have to put in the middle when Chism is winded/in foul trouble. I know he has his bone head moments, but he takes up space and does a decent enough job.
Waldorf writes:
As for UT, I refuse to say anything positive about them because every time I do they play terrible the next game. That said, they won two games this week by a total of nearly 50 points and truth be told should have won them by a total closer to 80.
Big week this week. Hopefully the GWOV won't return.
ncvol17 writes:
Beating the Common Who**es is always a fun way to spend a Saturday. The Nashville Inferiority complex continues on in the 21st Century.
LDDFC912 writes:
Great win! Clock was garbage. Can Lane Kiffin fire them? <smile>
allvol9 writes:
Great performance by Tyler! Congrats! Double great day....UT wins big...and the Gators lose to lowly Ga!
lomas98 writes:
I thought before Arkansas if we can go 4-1 in the 5 game stretch before KY we would be okay. We are 3-1 now and the next game at Ole Miss is huge. We cannot lose that game before going to Rupp. Worst case we must get a split in these next 2 road games. Given our history in Rupp, we need to win Wednesday. 7-3 in the SEC is okay. 10-6 in conference will get to the NCAA. I think the SEC tournament is going to be very important for this team. The last few years were not that important for our seeding although that loss to Arkansas last year cost a number 1 seed. If we can finish 10-6 or better yet 11-5 and make a good run we could end up a 5 seed. If we go 0-1 in SECT, we will need to cross our fingers.
abnerPeabody writes:
yes coach know it all.You must see something in practice Coach pearl dosen't.
thevoice writes:
MONEY!!!!
Fryinpansvols writes:
It's always good to kick some Vandy butt! Now we need to win as many as possible.
smokeyvol1 writes:
Dear Mike Slime, Instead of listening to your favorite tiny stones Meyer cry about what someone said that hurt his sorry little feelings, open your eyes and get every ref from the SEC into your office. This is the worst bunch of blind idiots of any confrence nationwide! We as SEC fans should be ashamed of what we have. I can't think of one official from this confrence that does a fair job. Now that I got that out of the way congratulations to the VOLS on a great win today.
PaulTheVol writes:
It's a good day - we beat Vandy, Florida loses and we've almost made it through a whole day without a secondary violation!
thevoice writes:
I think with our strength of schedule, we'll get in at 9-7. Look at the other teams in the SEC; we're way ahead of most of them. I understand the SEC is down. I'd say we're almost a lock. We'd have to really "skrew" up to not get in. I'm just happy CLK isn't our basketball coach!
thevoice writes:
Is anybody else laughing when Burt Burtlekamp blurts, "Money" whenever we hit a 3? Listen Burt, nobody on this team is a money 3-point shooter. You're getting confused with 2 years ago when we had Lofton and Smith jacking up 3s in their sleep, sipping tea. Now THAT was money!
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Will enjoy myself extra good tomorrow at church.
Big Vandy fan sits behind me. I will not say a word and he'll finally bring it up.
"Bottom"!
DennisVols writes:
"After five lead changes and a tie at the beginning of the first half"
Well duh all games are tied at the begining "of the first half" aren't they 0-0.
UKblue02 writes:
Good convincing for the VOLS, congrats, looking forward to a good game in Rupp.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
GOOD GOOD GOOD. Alright! I can't believe Pearl wasn't happy with Smith's rebounds?! What a game! I saw some Intensity today. And way to go Georgia!!
UKblue02 writes:
OOPS! meant to say "good convincing win"
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Hey let's just enjoy this one a night or two. OK?
UKblue02 writes:
OK, carry on men. LOL
username writes:
Prince did set a career high of 10. His previous career high was 9.
Vol_Jokes writes:
I see you guys roughed another one of those tough SEC teams. What a horrible conference. There are only two decent teams in the entire conference, Kentucky and the vuls. Everybody else is awful.
Also nice to play at home where you can maul guys trying to drive in for layups and the refs call it clean blocks. Must be nice. Oh also when the vanderbilt guy had a clean block on chism and he jumps up and gets in the guys face. The vandy guy said nothing and yet it was a double technical? Yep, good to play at home huh.
While you were playing that kind of team ...at home.
Memphis went on the road to a very hostile Southern Miss arena. The place is small and the fans are loud. Vols would have lost this one for sure. We all know how rattled the vols get on the road in games like that (see Temple game). Tigers pulled out a 20 point win after only leading at the half by 3. Tigers should be a top 5 team come monday. I know you are happy about that.
DaveVol writes:
Always great to flush the commode-a-dores!
Down_The_Field writes:
i share your joy, dave.
sweeping peebody is sweet!
UKblue02 writes:
Yes he is, the Tad Pad is a tough place to play, even with the problems Ole MISS is having i think they will put up a fight, we have to go to Vandy's pad hope you guys took the fight out of them for us. LOL
Major_Magilicutty writes:
anyone else think that our passing was exceptional tonight? I mean...our passes were crisp and our energy was pretty consistent (for the most part). This bodes well for March.
smokeyvol1 writes:
STFU, go outside and wait for a drive by. I hope they don't miss, lol.
pms151 writes:
Do us all a favor and tell us the real numbers on the crowd, not the announced crowd. Sounds like the KNS is subservient to the UTK SID, Not good reporting. We don't need FOX NEWS!!! They so enough damage on your news side.
doctorvol#211700 writes:
happy to have attended both possum thumpings! Only negatives were FT shooting by all but Tyler and the officiating was the worst of the year--and that is saying a lot.
lomas98 writes:
9-7 and depending on SECT may get us a 8 or 9 seed. I think those are the 2 worst seeds in the tourney. They will battle to get out of the first round only to play one of the top 4 teams in the country after a scrimmage in the first round. We need to avoid the 8 or 9 seed.
Down_The_Field writes:
mempus......the tradition of southern miss and the arrogance of kentucky.
texas western has more basketball tradition than the mempus high kitty cats. they at least have a national championship.
please, don't insult our intelligence by trying to convince this site that playing at southern miss is similar to playing at kentucky or duke. i can't tell if you're joking or if you're delusional.
smokyredbone writes:
STFU!!!!!Mempiss is the armpit of Tenn! U of M really belongs in Arkansas! Bunch of redneck plowboys!!! Pearl's got our boys growing up and starting to gel just in time to run to a decent seed and hopefully another shot at Mempiss!!! GO VOLS!
DaveVol writes:
Thanks and I always appreciate a poster that knows his history, and also shares in the dislike for the teacher college.
feathersax writes:
AMEN! Living in Nashville, it's especially sweet to do the tidy-bowl shuffle on the Pee-body guys. Some of those lead passes were lasers!
volsfan92 writes:
Great win! GO VOLS! Brian Williams is doing fine and is a huge help to this team. Tyler is incredible. Many good days ahead for this season's team!
mocsandvolsfan writes:
I like Fox news...at least it's not the fantasy phooey MSNBC hands out! Oh wait...I forgot this is just a basketball blog.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
I can't believe u subbed in phooey. I teach elementary and hear worse than what I wrote every day...Tho' I guess that's not a good thing.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Tyler took over. I guess he was tired of reading some of the "phooey" some have posted recently. But it was still a team effort defensively. Prince is starting to look good as well.
volsfan92 writes:
right on witch doctor
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.