University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Down South Carolina 60-52 in SEC Opener
January 05, 2000 | Men's Basketball
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Vincent Yarbrough scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half and No. 15 Tennessee beat South Carolina 60-52 Wednesday night its Southeastern Conference opener.
A close win for the Volunteers.
"It's the Southeastern Conference," center C.J. Black said. "It's going to be this way every night."
The Volunteers (13-1, 1-0 SEC) continued on their best start in 55 years as Vincent Yarbrough scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half in a 60-52 victory at South Carolina on Wednesday night.
The Vols had beaten their opponents by an average of 20 points so far this season, including a 72-46 dunk-a-thon over Radford this past Sunday.
But they needed Yarbrough, their leading scorer, to shake off his first-half rust and heat up after the break against surprising South Carolina.
Yarbrough, a lanky 6-foot-7 sophomore, broke a 46-all tie with one basket and increased the lead for the Volunteers to 52-46 with another floater. And when he wasn't scoring, he was passing as he hit Isiah Victor to make it 54-46.
"This team has a lot of players who can score and make plays," Yarbrough said. "Tonight, it was my turn. Next game, it will be someone else."
South Carolina (8-5, 0-1), which has won as many games as it had during last year's 8-21 season, went more than six minutes without a basket after Damien Kinloch tied it 46-46 with 7:38 to go.
The victory continues Tennessee's best start since the 1944-45 season, which opened 12-1. But things will only get more difficult in the conference as the Volunteers were held to their lowest point total and tied their fewest 3-pointers (five) this season.
"I think it's because everybody (in the SEC) keeps up with each other so well," Tennessee coach Jerry Green said. "It's intense and aggressive especially when you're playing in your own league."
Star point guard Tony Harris scored 12 points, but was only 1-of-3 in the second half for Tennessee. He said that he tried to stay out of the way once Yarbrough found his scoring touch.
"We knew we had to keep feeding him," Harris said.
Antonio Grant and Marius Petravicius led South Carolina with 12 points each.
South Carolina worked its way back from a six-point deficit in the second half, but points were hard to come by for both teams after the game's final tie.
Chuck Eidson had two straight turnovers with the Gamecocks trying for the lead.
"Give them credit, they didn't crack or fold," South Carolina coach Eddie Fogler said.
Harris said the Volunteers have been through these physical, nail-biting games before, no matter how many routs they have posted this season.
"We know what it takes to pull these out," he said. "It's a good statement to make early that we can fight through thinks."
Harris' shooting kept the Volunteers out front as they struggled to find points early on. He had a driving layup and a 3-pointer during an 11-0 run that gave them a 28-21 lead.
But the Gamecocks cut it to 32-28 at halftime on Grant's follow basket and 3-pointer.
South Carolina's road the next two weeks will get even rougher than Tennessee. The Gamecocks go to Arkansas on Saturday, return home to face Syracuse and Kentucky, then go to Auburn _ all in the next two weeks.
The Volunteers had won 11 straight games until losing 88-68 to Tulsa on Dec. 23, at the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.
"We've got to go LSU next," Black said. "We just have to do a lot of the same things we did tonight."
And every night after that.
