KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Grant Williams had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 5 Tennessee beat Vanderbilt, 58-46, on Tuesday night in the Volunteers’ first game since losing their No. 1 ranking.
Tennessee (24-2, 12-1 Southeastern Conference) bounced back from its first loss since Thanksgiving week, an 86-69 defeat at No. 4 Kentucky on Saturday to snap a school-record 19-game winning streak.
Vanderbilt (9-17, 0-13) shot just 32.1 percent (18-of-56) overall and 23.5 percent (8-of-34) in the second half.
Aaron Nesmith had 13 to lead Vanderbilt.
Admiral Schofield and Lamonte’ Turner scored 11 points each for Tennessee.
Turner put Tennessee ahead for good, 16-13, with 12:47 left in the first half when he sank a 3-pointer while getting fouled to produce a four-point play. Turner added another 3-pointer less than a minute later as part of an 11-0 run.
Tennessee led 36-22 late in the first half, but then scored two points over a stretch that lasted nearly nine minutes, allowing Vanderbilt to creep back into the game.
Vanderbilt went on a 10-0 run that started late in the first half and carried over to the second. But the Commodores never got Tennessee’s lead below four in the second half.
Tennessee finally pulled away and extended its lead to 51-38 by going on a 9-0 run that was capped by Schofield’s 3-pointer with 6:10 left. Vanderbilt answered with six straight points but couldn’t get any closer.
