Postgame Notes: Vanderbilt 86, Vols 69

March 1, 2016

Postgame Notes

The Basics

Tennessee falls to 13-17 overall and 6-11 in SEC play after dropping an 86-69 decision at Vanderbilt on Tuesday night at Memorial Gymnasium. The Vols were led by a season-best 23 points from Shembari Phillips.

With Tuesday's loss, Tennessee is in the midst of a three-game losing streak -- the longest for UT since it dropped three straight from Nov. 27 to Dec. 12 (vs. George Washington, vs. Nebraska, and at No. 18 Butler).

Tennessee went 7-of-13 from the 3-point line on the night. The 13 threes marked the fewest attempted by the Vols since going 3-of-13 from distance in a win over Florida Atlantic on Dec. 16, 2015.

The Vols have now surrendered 80-plus points to the opposition in three of their last four road games and has give up 75-plus points in each of their last six road contests.

Turnover Trouble

Tennessee committed 12 turnovers on Tuesday night, a slight bump from its season average of 11.0 per game -- a figure which had led the SEC in fewest turnovers per game.

The turnover trouble resulted in the most damage midway through the second half. After whittling a 21-point deficit down to 10 with 11:02 to play, the Vols committed four turnovers over the next two-plus minutes. The giveaways helped propel Vandy to a 15-0 run that saw the lead grow to a game-high 25 with 7:14 to play.

Vanderbilt finished the night with 18 points of Tennessee turnovers and 12 fast break points.

Despite an impressive offensive performance scoring the ball, Phillips committed the most Tennessee turnovers on the night, finishing with five. The freshman has now posted five or more turnovers in two of his last three games (six at South Carolina).

Disparity Inside

Vanderbilt finished the night with 44 points in the paint -- the most inside scoring allowed by the Volunteers this season.

Vanderbilt got a combined 33 points on the night from its trio of seven-footers (Luke Kornet [17], Damian Jones [14], and Josh Henderson [2]).

Tennessee's bench was also outscored by a 62-14 margin, but much of that remarkable disparity comes from Vanderbilt starting a trio of seldom-used seniors on Senior Night. Guard Carter Josephs (4.4 mpg), guard Nathan Watkins (2.2 mpg), and center Josh Henderson (10.8 mpg) each started and played no more than six minutes. That trio combined for four points on the night.

Phillips Fills It Up

Freshman Shembari Phillips notched his first career 20-point game on Tuesday night, finishing with a season-best 23 points at Vanderbilt.

Phillips, who has started seven straight games for the Vols, has now scored in double figures in four straight contests and five of his last six.

Since getting his first start against Auburn on Feb. 9, Phillips is averaging 12.6 points per game. In his 19 appearances prior to cracking the starting five, Phillips averaged 3.9 ppg.

Fun While It Lasted

After taking a 2-0 lead to start the game on Armani Moore's driving basket, the Vols led just once more in the first half when Detrick Mostella knocked down a corner three to give the Vols a 16-15 lead with 7:47 left until halftime.

That lead lasted just 29 seconds, though, as VU recaptured the lead with a Jeff Roberson layup at the 7:18 mark. It was all Commodores from there, however, as the home squad closed out the half on a 28-8 spurt to take a 43-24 lead into the locker room.

Over the final 7:47 of the period, Vanderbilt went 11-of-17 (.647) from the field, including a perfect 4-for-4 mark over the final 1:22 of the first half.

The Vols, on the other hand, were just 3-of-12 (.250) from the field during Vandy's big push.

For Starters

For the second straight game, Tennessee's starters were Shembari Phillips, Devon Baulkman, Armani Moore, Admiral Schofield, and Kyle Alexander.

Tennessee unveiled this lineup, featuring three freshmen, for Saturday's home contest against Arkansas. It was the first time since 2007 that the Vols had started three freshmen in a game.

Armani Moore made his 29th start of the season despite missing shootaround earlier in the day while battling a temperature.

Reese Hits The Century Mark

Senior Derek Reese played in his 100th career game for the Volunteers on Tuesday night at Vanderbilt. On the current Tennessee roster, only Armani Moore (124 career games) has been a more constant presence over the last four years than Reese.

Reese finished the game with three points and six rebounds in 23 minutes of action.

Moore Blocks

Senior Armani Moore continued his ascendance up Tennessee's all-time blocks list on Tuesday, notching two rejections at Memorial Gymnasium.

Already the eighth-ranked shot blocker in program history, Moore took another step towards passing Vincent Yarbrough for seventh place on UT's all-time list. Yarbrough (1998-02) posted 131 blocked shots in his Tennessee career while Armani Moore now has 128 to his name.

The Series

With the 190th meeting all-time between the in-state rivals now in the books, Tennessee falls to 116-74 all-time against Vanderbilt.

With the defeat, Tennessee suffers its first regular season sweep at the hands of Vanderbilt since the 2009-10 season. The Vols lost at home to the Commodores, 88-74, back on Jan. 20.

Tennessee is now 53-40 in the series when playing in Nashville.

Head coach Rick Barnes falls to 1-2 all-time in games played against Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings.

Up Next

Tennessee concludes the 2015-16 regular season on Saturday when it plays host to Ole Miss at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The regular season finale against the Rebels tips off at 12 p.m. ET and will be televised on the SEC Network.

Saturday's game will be preceded by a short Senior Day ceremony as Vol seniors Devon Baulkman, Armani Moore, Kevin Punter Jr., and Derek Reese will be recognized.

The Volunteers are 70-42 all-time against Ole Miss, including a 40-11 mark in Knoxville. Tennessee dropped its only meeting with the Rebels last season, falling 59-57 on Feb. 21 in Oxford.

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