Vols show they’re the bigger Orange in dark mode home win over Syracuse

Another nice win.

Tennessee defeated Syracuse 96-70 while sporting its own Dark Mode uniforms to in front of an announced crowd of around 21,000 in Knoxville on Tuesday night. The Big Orange earned its first 8-0 start since 2001.

The Vols won the tip but started on a bad possession. But a steal by Lanier led to Okpara’s dunk. Mashack had a dunk, along with Lanier thanks to a Zakai Zeigler ally-oop. Tennessee’s first eight points came from three Syracuse turnovers.

The teams traded buckets throughout the first half, with Syracuse’s Elijah Moore coming off the bench 3/3 from the floor with seven points. But the Vols did plenty to keep Syracuse at bay.

The main reason? Cade Phillips. Impressive inside moves and dunks galore by the Sophomore Forward helped pad Tennessee’s lead throughout the first half to prompt several Syracuse timeouts. Phillips started the game with 10 points, going 5/5 from the floor. Felix Okpara and Igor Milicic Jr. had some nice plays of their own as well, the latter of which fouled out but finished with a double-double.

UT had a 10-0 run to provide some cushion before the half. The ‘Cuse had a run of its own before a flurry of free throws and a Zakai Zeigler three provided some separation up 11.

Syracuse found themselves down 10 at the half, despite an abysmal 2/15 beyond the arc from Tennessee and a crisp 56% field goal percentage for Syracuse.

But the blowout soon came. Tennessee bumped its lead up to 15 and more fairly quickly. One impressive moment was from Jordan Gainey, who had an and-one, a floater, and two threes in a row to cushion the lead to 23. Gainey finished with 12 points, six rebounds, and 2 assists.

Of course, it wasn’t a perfect performance by any means. Hardly any performance is perfect, if ever at all. The Vols struggled from three in the first half as previously mentioned, and they fouled too many three-point shots. But, strong inside play—44 paint points— and an eventual emergence from beyond the arc induced a blowout victory. Tennessee’s lead grew to as much as a whopping 31 in the second half.

Lanier poured on some late threes as icing on the cake to finish with 26 points. His recent performances have been huge for the Vols as a reliable scoring option. Second-half three-pointers were better for the Vols in the second half; 8/12 proved too much to overcome for Syracuse.

A few turnovers saw sloppy play from the Vols in the waning minutes, but one bright spot was newcomer Grant Hurst, making two layups in the final minute and energizing the remaining fans. Darlinstone Dubar had a layup right as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

As for the opposition, Syracuse’s Elijah Moore finished with a commendable 24 points off the bench, a career-high for the Freshman Guard. The ‘Cuse’s field goal percentage concluded at 49%. The loss was the first in blowout fashion this season for Syracuse, whose previous 6 games had all been relatively close.

Next up for UT is the Jimmy V Classic — a matchup against Miami on Tuesday, December 10, in Madison Square Garden. Tipoff is set for 3:30 ET and will be broadcast by ESPN.