GAMEDAY Mens Basketball
Tennessee 73, Southern Cal 66
By AARON BEARD
AP Basketball Writer
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas - Julian Phillips scored a season-high 25 points to help No. 22 Tennessee hold off Southern California 73-66 in overtime in the semifinals at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The first-year forward made 7 of 13 shots and 10 of 12 free throws to go with eight rebounds for the Volunteers (4-1), with four of those free throws coming in the OT.
Santiago Vescovi overcame a rough shooting game to hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:45 left in the extra period, while Zakai Zeigler went 4 for 4 at the line in the final 23.7 seconds left of overtime to seal the win.
Tennessee won despite playing a second straight day without leading scorer Josiah-Jordan James (13.7 points per game) due to soreness in his left knee. He had an offseason procedure on that same joint, and coach Rick Barnes said he's day-to-day.
Boogie Ellis scored 21 points in his second big output in as many days to lead the Trojans (4-2).
BIG PICTURE
Tennessee: The Volunteers pulled away in the second half to beat Butler in Wednesday night's final first-round game. This time, Tennessee won despite shooting just 3 for 18 from 3-point range, though the Volunteers made 22 of 26 free throws.
USC: The Trojans beat BYU in Wednesday's first round behind a big performance from Ellis, who scored 21 of his 27 points after the break. But the Trojans committed 20 turnovers that the Volunteers converted into 25 points.
November 24, 2022
| USC | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| J. Morgan | F | 26 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| D. Peterson | G | 43 | 4-10 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 1-6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 9 |
| R. Dixon-Waters | G | 40 | 2-8 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 0-5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 6 |
| B. Ellis | G | 35 | 7-14 | 4-5 | 3-6 | 0-3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 21 |
| T. White | G | 33 | 5-11 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0-4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| K. Johnson | 22 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3-5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| K. Wright | 19 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | |
| M. Thomas | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Totals | 224 | 27-60 (.450) |
7-8 (.875) |
5-15 (.333) |
9-37 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 23 | 66 | |
| Tennessee | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| J. Phillips | F | 38 | 7-13 | 10-12 | 1-1 | 4-8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 25 |
| O. Nkamhoua | F | 37 | 5-8 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 2-6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| U. Plavsic | F | 14 | 1-3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| S. Vescovi | G | 37 | 3-13 | 0-0 | 1-8 | 0-4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| T. Key | G | 25 | 2-7 | 3-4 | 1-5 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Z. Zeigler | 33 | 1-6 | 4-4 | 0-3 | 0-3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | |
| J. Aidoo | 25 | 2-10 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 5-9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | |
| J. Mashack | 14 | 3-4 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| Totals | 223 | 24-64 (.375) |
22-26 (.846) |
3-18 (.167) |
14-38 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 73 | |
