The Tennessee Volunteers got off to another slow first half start. However, they showed in the second half just why they’re one of the best teams of the country in defeating the 23rd-ranked Georgia Bulldogs 74-56 on Wednesday night at the Food City Center at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Jordan Gainey led the Vols with 19 points on 6-12 shooting off the bench. Zakai Zeigler had 16 points to go with 7 assists and 6 steals, setting the program record for steals in the process. Igor Milicic, Jr. led the Vols on the glass with 9 boards to go with 9 points.
The first half felt a lot like last week against the Gators: ice cold shooting from the field. Tennessee could hardly buy a bucket in the first frame, shooting 9-33 (27.3%) from the field. The struggle was real for Chaz Lanier, as he went 1-9 and 0-5 from three in the first 20 minutes. The Vols’ defense kept them in it, as they trailed 26-25 at the half.
The second half was a very different story, and it started quickly. Jahmai Mashack rattled home a three from the wing to give UT a 5-point lead. After Chaz Lanier missed a three, Felix Okpara came flying in and emphatically slammed it home to energize the crowd.
From there, Tennessee went on an 8-1 run to push the lead to 13 before Georgia made their first basket of the half six minutes in. Tennessee countered the Georgia three with another run of 10-0 to get a complete stranglehold on the game at 51-30 with 12 minutes left in the game.
Georgia had one last 9-0 run from there to try to eek back into the game, but Tennessee matched shot for shot down the stretch and eventually pulled back ahead by 15 after Lanier splashed home a three to put UT up 66-51 with 5 minutes left and effectively slam the door.
Tennessee’s next game is against Vanderbilt on Saturday at 3:30 pm ET in Nashville.