KNOXVILLE - Tennessee's slow shooting start was a distant memory by the time Armani Moore pushed the Volunteers over the 90-point mark for the first time in nearly two years.
After missing all but one of its first nine shots and trailing for nearly 16 minutes in the first half, Tennessee caught fire in the second half to ease to a 95-80 win against Army at Thompson-Boling Arena on Tuesday night.
"I thought it was far and away our best game of the year," first-year Vols coach Rick Barnes said. "But I thought we were going to have to do that to win this game. It gives us something we can build on. We're going to have to continue to get better."
Tennessee (4-1) scored 70 or more points just eight times last season and never cracked the 80-point mark, something it has done in four of five games this season. The Vols last scored 90 points in a non-overtime game against a Division I opponent on Nov. 21, 2011, when they hammered UNC Greensboro 92-63 in Cuonzo Martin's coaching debut.
Moore (29 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 blocks) and Kevin Punter (26 points) became the first Tennessee tandem to score 25-plus points in the same game since Tony Harris and Vincent Yarbrough had 29 and 25 against South Florida in 1999.
"Once everybody understands what we've got to do on the offensive and defensive ends," Moore said, "I think we can be a really great team."
The Vols missed their first eight 3-point attempts and trailed by as many as six points in the first half but took a 40-36 halftime lead after a 9-2 run.
Tennessee hit eight of 11 3s and shot 57.6 percent from the field in the second half. Robert Hubbs (14 points) gave the Vols their first double-digit lead on a trey with 14:42 to go. After that, Tennessee's lead never dipped below seven points and ballooned to as many as 17.
"I didn't even realize we missed our first eight 3-pointers," Derek Reese said after scoring nine points and grabbing 11 rebounds. "We were just trying to be aggressive. That's how Coach wants us to be. He doesn't want us to get lackadaisical or get complacent with what we're doing. He always want to push."
Tennessee plays George Washington in the Barclays Center Classic in Brooklyn on Friday night.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.