Getting physical
Early scoring run helps to overpower Saint Joseph’s
Tennessee’s fifth victory of the basketball season Monday night inside Thompson-Boling Arena took a bit longer than the previous four.
It wasn’t because the 102-66 victory for the No. 8 Volunteers over Saint Joseph’s had the compelling aspect of going down to the wire. It was because the two teams combined for 52 fouls and 58 freethrow attempts.
“They drove it hard, and we tried to drive it hard,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “We tried to post it hard. You had two teams that were playing very physical.”
The Vols spent a sizable chunk of the evening at the free- throw line, making 18-of-19 first-half attempts in building a 56- 33 lead. They would finish 30-of-37 at the line for an 81.1% clip.
Three Hawks starters fouled out of the game.
“We try to play really physical and be aggressive,” Vols senior forward E.J. Anosike said. “We want to get to the free- throw line. We want to score in the paint. We want to really make it a very physical game, so that just comes with us playing Tennessee basketball.
“As far as it affecting the flow of a game, we just kind of get lost in the game and focus on one possession at a time. We never really get involved with the officials. We let them do their job and do what we have to do.”
A Josiah-Jordan James 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining enabled Tennessee to eclipse 100 points in consecutive contests for the first time since 2009. As was the case in Friday night’s 103- 49 throttling of Tennessee Tech, six Vols players reached double figures, with Victor Bailey’s 18 points and Santiago Vescovi’s 16 leading the way.
Yves Pons tallied 13 points, with Keon Johnson adding 12, and Jared Springer and John Fulkerson providing 10 apiece.
“It definitely makes us a lot harder to guard just having different weapons at each position,” Johnson said. “It also makes the load a lot easier for every guy, because you can come in and go as hard as you feel knowing that your brother will come in and take over and nothing will fall off.”
Tennessee used an early 16-0 run to turn a 4-4 deadlock into a runaway,
with Vescovi, Springer and Bailey connecting on 3-pointers during that burst.
“There is no doubt we were pleased with that,” Barnes said. “We really had a lot of respect for this team coming in. This team has played Auburn, Villanova and Kansas, and they have fought in every one of those games.
“We did more switching tonight than we probably have maybe ever, because they can really get you twisted up, but the start was important.”
Tennessee will play its fourth game in a ninegame stretch Wednesday afternoon at 5, when the Vols host USC Upstate. The matchup will be televised by the SEC Network.
SPRINGER HONORED
Springer was tabbed Monday afternoon as the SEC Freshman of the Week after averaging 16.5 points per game and shooting a combined 14-of18 from the floor in wins over Appalachian State and Tennessee Tech.