The Tennessee Volunteers saw their hopes at a second SEC tournament title in three years go up in smoke against Mississippi State in a 73-56 loss. The Vols were dominated in the paint and blown off the boards.
Things were much different this time around against the Bulldogs on Tuesday night in a battle of top 15 teams. Tennessee knocked off State 68-56 at the Food City Center at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Chaz Lanier took the lion’s share of the shots, making 8-17 and 5-12 from three for a game-high 23 points. Felix Okpara had 9 points with a game-high 12 rebounds. Jahmai Mashack added 10 points, as did Jordan Gainey off the bench.
The story of the game and the key to the win was the Vols’ first half defense. The first half started in ugly fashion, with a pair of Lanier three pointers the only Vols baskets from the field until under the 14-minute mark. But Tennessee would gradually get going while the Bulldogs remained stuck in the mud. State remained at 6 points until under 8 minutes remained in the half, which gave the Vols a comfortable double-digit margin.
State drew to within 25-16, but a 9-0 run by Tennessee sent the teams to the locker room with Tennessee holding a commanding lead of 34-16. For the half, State shot just 6-26 from the field (23.1%). Tennessee was 12-29 (41.4%).
The second half was far less impressive for Tennessee at least on the defensive side of the ball. A 15-4 run put State back in the ballgame at 38-31 just five minutes into the half.
However, of all people, Okpara drained a three late in the shot clock to push Tennessee’s lead back to double digits, and from there, the Vols would keep the Bulldogs at bay with a double-digit lead for the rest of the contest. They built the lead up to 19 points and kept it close to there until some late garbage time points by State in the final two minutes served as a little bit of window dressing for the Bulldogs.
The win made Tennessee’s record 17-6 in their last 23 games against top 15 teams, which is pretty incredible. It also improved the Vols to 17-2 and 4-2 in SEC play this season.
Next up: Tennessee heads to Auburn for a huge conference clash against the top-ranked Tigers on Saturday.