The No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers celebrated head coach Jerry Green’s birthday Sunday afternoon as they demolished East Tennessee State 102-76 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Vols (2-0) placed seven players in double figures while shooting over 50 percent (52.5) from the floor for the second consecutive game. The Tennessee defense was also in tact, forcing 19 turnovers.
I thought it might be a little closer than what it was, head coach Jerry Green said, but I thought we played better today than we did (Friday).
The Vols played fundamental basketball as opposed to the cute style that Green criticized from Friday’s game against Chattanooga.
Tennessee came out strong to open the game, jumping out to a 15-4 lead. The Vols nailed down five three-pointers in the first eight minutes of action to pull away from the Buccaneers 55-28 at the half.
The second half started with Isiah Victor nailing a three pointer to start a 16-3 run by the Vols to extend the lead to 71-31.
The outmatched Bucs kept battling to trim the lead to 31 points, led by Dimeco Childress. However, Walker and Haislip finished out the game by scoring the Vols’ last 12 points.
Both Harris Walker and Marcus Haislip posted 12 points apiece. Walker was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor.
Vincent Yarbrough set the pace for Tennessee, shooting a cool 5-for-8 from the floor for 18 points. He also grabbed four boards and dished three assists.
I think that’s the nature of this team, Yarbrough said of the scoring distribution. We have a lot of people that can score every night. The faster style that we play, I think you’ll see a lot more people in double figures.
Charles Hathaway dominated the paint for the Vols for the entire evening. He was 4-for-4 shooting en route to 12 points and four rebounds.
I love touching the ball, Hathaway said. Defense is my main thing but I’m getting more comfortable with the offense.
It’s working our for me and I hope they keep feeding me the ball.
Victor recorded 11 points and 10 boards for his second consecutive double-double. Tony Harris and Terrence Woods both had 11 points apiece.
That is us at our best when we are all focusing on a common goal, Victor said. We wanted to put them away and we did.
Childress led the Bucs with 15 points while D.J. McDuffie had 14.
Vols win Friday’s season opener
Although much of the game was sloppy, the No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers kicked off the 2000-01 season in style Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena with an 88-66 win over Chattanooga.
Harris found a leaping Yarbrough for an alley-oop that gave the Vols a 2-0 lead to start the contest. That would be as close as the Mocs got all night as 35 percent shooting limited their offensive production.
Victor led the Volunteers with 18 points and 13 boards for the double-double. Harris followed with 16 points, five assists and no turnovers, although the Vols had 25 turnovers on the night.
Yarbrough added 12 and Woods came off the bench for 11. While post players Ron Slay and starter Haislip stayed in foul trouble most of the night, Hathaway picked up the slack down low with six points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.
In fact, foul trouble was the story of the night as Tennessee collected 31 fouls to Chattanooga’s 22 under the NCAA’s tightening of the rules. Haislip fouled out after 13 minutes of action Harris Walker and Slay fouled out after only 11 minutes on the floor.
This emphasis on cutting down the roughness sure makes basketball different than anything that I’ve experienced in my 32 years of coaching and playing career, Green said. It’s certainly a different game. It’s a game we’re going to have to adjust to.
