No. 5 Tennessee basketball shook off one of its worst defensive halves of the season and used a second-half surge to shake off Vanderbilt 77-68 Tuesday night.

“Going into this game, I thought it would be this kind of game,” head coach Rick Barnes said. “Every time we play them it’s a grind.”

After giving up just 42 points on Saturday at South Carolina, Tennessee gave up 39 first half points to the Commodores. Vanderbilt’s bench led the way in the first half, scoring 36 points. Noah Shelby hit three triples early and Liam Robbins had 11 off the bench.

“(Robbins) got hot as soon as he got in the game,” Vols forward Uros Plasvic said. “We needed to adjust, especially in the second half.”

Had it not been for the Vols’ offense, they would have been down by much more at the break. Tennessee’s offense had a respectable first half, going on a 7-0 run to start the game and making more than half of its shots through the first 20 minutes.

The Vols went into halftime trailing 39-37, the most points Tennessee had given up in a first half all season. The Vols only trailed at the half in one other game against Ole Miss.

Tennessee responded to the rough first half with a 14-2 run to start the second and it quickly built up a 10-point lead.

The Vols began to slip away at the eight minute mark, building its lead up to 14 to hold the Commodores at bay before ultimately finishing them out down the stretch.

Freshman Julian Phillips had his best game of SEC play so far, scoring 15 points and adding six boards and three assists.

“I think Julian is still getting started,” Barnes said. “And the more he plays, the more we’ll see him assert himself offensively.”

Santiago Vescovi added 15 points with six boards and three assists.

Zakai Zeigler continued his stretch of elite passing that has seemed to have taken new life in conference play. The sophomore guard collected nine assists to go along with his five points Tuesday night.

“I think he’s getting better,” Barnes said. “He’s a year and a half into his career and he’s learning. He’s never been what I think he would tell you, a natural point guard. He’s always been a scorer, because that’s what he’s been asked to do. It’s exciting to think how much better he can get.”

Plasvic finished with 11 points after struggling on the offensive end to start conference play. Most of his points came right around the rim – his area of expertise.

“I’ve been focusing on using the glass more, throwing the ball off the high corner,” Plasvic said. “It gives it a lot more of a chance to go in. Coach was emphasizing that a lot to me and the other bigs.”

Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse, who took over the Commodores in 2019, remains winless against Tennessee, dropping his seventh consecutive game to the Vols despite almost always giving them a challenge.

“He’s a terrific coach,” Barnes said. “His guys execute, they don’t turn the ball over, they don’t beat up on themselves.”

Tennessee heads into a rivalry game against Kentucky on Saturday riding a 4-0 start to SEC play while the Wildcats come off a loss to South Carolina.

“(John Calipari) will have his team ready,” Barnes said. “And I think our guys certainly know that.”