MENS BASKETBALL

Tennessee 88, Vanderbilt 53

AL LESAR
ASSOCIATED PRESS

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Dalton Knecht and Zakai Zeigler scored 14 points apiece to lead No. 8 Tennessee to an 88-53 victory over Vanderbilt.

Josiah-Jordan James had 13 points, Santiago Vescovi scored 12 and Jonas Aidoo added 11 points and eight rebounds as the Volunteers (19-6, 9-3 Southeastern Conference) beat the Commodores (7-18, 2-10) for the 13th time in their last 14 meetings.

Ven-Allen Lubin scored 10 points to pace Vanderbilt.

Tennessee hit its first five shots to jump out to a 13-3 lead. By the time the Vols had made nine of their first 12, they led 23-7.

At halftime, Knecht and James had 10 points each and Tennessee was in charge, 51-20.

BIG PICTURE

Vanderbilt: Consistency is the next step for the Commodores. Earlier this season, they led Tennessee by five at halftime but ultimately lost by double digits. This week, Vanderbilt stunned Texas A&M at the buzzer, then had a disappointing showing at Tennessee.

Tennessee: If the Volunteers are going to live up to the predictions of tournament success in March that so many are heaping on them, they’re going to have to become better on the boards. Heading into the Vanderbilt game, Tennessee had been outrebounded in five of its 11 SEC games. Two of those five games were losses.

Tennessee athletic press release

February 17, 2024