Dores Stumble in Knoxville

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Fifth-ranked Tennessee erased a 13-point halftime deficit to down Vanderbilt 81-76 in Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Jason Edwards led all scorers with 24 points, knocking down a season-high six three-pointers. Sophomore Jaylen Carey continued his strong run of play with 18 points and seven rebounds.

Tennessee (21-5, 8-5 SEC) was led by Zakai Zeigler with 22 points, all in the second half. Chaz Lanier added 21 and Igor Milicic Jr. 10 to give the Volunteers three in double figures.

Vanderbilt (17-8, 5-7 SEC) raced to an early lead behind red-hot first half shooting. The Commodores went 17-of-31 from the field in the opening 20 minutes to hold a 44-31 edge at the break. The script flipped in the second half as the Dores shot just 35.7 percent from the field while Tennessee hit on 65.4 percent of its shot attempts.

The Commodores finished the day 12-of-27 from three for 44.4 percent. After holding a 21-10 edge on the glass in the first half, Vandy finished with just a 31-30 advantage on the glass. Tennessee owned a 36-28 edge in the paint.

Vanderbilt returns to action at No. 15 Kentucky on Wednesday night. Tipoff in Rupp Arena is set for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.