University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
18-4, 5-3
Vanderbilt
14-7, 4-5
No. 8 Vols Defeat Vanderbilt 72-50
February 03, 2001 | Men's Basketball
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Jon Higgins, Tennessee's best defender, moved from shooting guard to point guard and finished with 10 points and seven assists. Yarbrough and Higgins each had four steals.
Freshman Matt Freije and reserve senior Anthony Williams each had seven points for the Commodores (14-7, 4-5).
Tennessee was looking to avenge Vanderbilt's sweep of both games against its in-state rivals last season, but the Commodores didn't put up much of a fight in shooting 20-of-61 from the floor and turning the ball over 21 times.
The Vols, who were coming off disappointing losses at Georgia and Florida, have won 18 straight at home since losing to the Commodores 76-73 on Jan. 12, 2000.
Everything after the first five minutes was anticlimatic, and even the crowd of about 18,000 was abnormally quiet and offered just smatterings of applause after some dunks and good plays.
The only tense moments for Tennessee came after Vanderbilt trimmed the lead to four during the first half and cut a 26-point lead to 14 with 9:51 remaining.
Russell Lakey's 3 cut the lead to 55-41 and capped a 13-2 run after the Vols ran up a 53-27 lead with 14:55 left. But Tennessee responded with a 6-0 run to put the game out of reach again.
Isiah Victor finished with 12 points, while Charles Hathaway added 11 for Tennessee.
The Vols hit five of their first seven shots, and the frustration got to Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings.
 Tennessee's Tony Harris, center, get sandwiched between Vanderbilt's Russell Lakey, bottom, and Billy Richmond. (AP Photo/Wade Payne) |
Harris then hit a 3 after Tennessee got the ball back, but Harris left three minutes later holding his right wrist. Trainers taped up his wrist and he returned four minutes later but didn't stay in long. It wasn't apparent how he was injured.
Vanderbilt finally scored on Sam Howard's 3 with 13:29 left and then closed to within four with a 13-2 run in which Tennessee coach Jerry Green was given a technical for arguing a call. Chuck Moore made one free throw to cut the lead to 15-8 with 11:09 to go, and Tennessee was called for goaltending 2 1/2 minutes later as Vanderbilt cut it to 17-13.
Harris' absence didn't really matter because the Vols went on a 12-0 run capped by Higgins' 3 that gave Tennessee a 29-13 lead with 4:54 to go.
The Vols, using a pressing defense on some possessions, continued to stretch their lead and were ahead 39-22 at halftime.
Vanderbilt shot just 9-of-28 in the first half.
