COLUMBIA, S.C. – For the first time in a couple of weeks, Tennessee looked comfortable in its own skin.
And on Tuesday, South Carolina never stood a chance.
The No. 1-ranked Volunteers led for more than 36 minutes, building a nine-point halftime lead, holding off a Gamecocks run and cruising to a relatively easy 92-70 win in front of 18,000 at Colonial Life Arena.
The Vols’ 15th consecutive win, which ties a program record, put them at 19-1 overall and 7-0 in the Southeastern Conference. They play at Texas A&M on Saturday.
The last time Tennessee’s men won 15 straight, the streak lasted multiple seasons, from Feb. 20, 1915, to Jan. 20, 1917.
The Vols played Tuesday without Jordan Bowden, who tweaked a knee and was unable to go. It’s not certain when he hurt it, but it wasn’t until 10 minutes before tipoff that coach Rick Barnes found out the 6-foot-5 guard and team’s top scorer off the bench couldn’t play.
It didn’t matter. Jordan Bone had his best floor game in a while, finishing with 19 points and nine assists. Admiral Schofield broke out of a recent shooting slump, scoring a team-high 24 points – 20 in the second half – on 9-of-17 shooting. He was 8-for-13 in the second half and had nine rebounds and four assists.
The 6-foot-6, 241-pound Schofield was 11-for-42 in his three previous games, 2-for-15 from 3-point range.
“I watch a lot of film on myself,” he said. “I’ve been one-dimensional over the last three games, just worried about shooting the 3. It’s something I do well, but I can’t force it. I’m a three-dimensional player: I can score inside, score in the midrange, so be strong, use my body.
“Why have a bodybuilder body and not use it? Go inside and work out and do what I know to do. Simplify my game, especially on the offensive end, but not let my defense deteriorate.”
Grant Williams had 23 points and nine rebounds, while Lamonte Turner had 13 points.
The contributions came from the bench as well. In addition to Bowden being out, the Vols also struggled with Kyle Alexander being in foul trouble for the second straight game. The 6-11 senior forward played only 10 minutes, finishing with two points and three rebounds. In his absence, John Fulkerson and Derrick Walker – players Barnes had implored to play better Monday – combined for nine points and six rebounds in 28 combined minutes.
“We’ve been trying to run,” Barnes said. “Jordan (Bone) is obviously getting better and better, and connecting the dots in what he’s trying to do. I’m proud of our team. I’m happy with the way Jalen (Johnson) and Derrick stepped up; they gave us some important minutes.
“Our older guys kept their poise throughout.”
Jalen Johnson played in place of Bowden and hit his only shot, playing 14 quality minutes – the most he’s played this season.
Chris Silva led the Gamecocks (10-10, 5-2) with 28 points and 10 rebounds, but he was held to six points and four rebounds in the second half. Tre Campbell had 14 points, but the Vols held the Gamecocks to 40 percent from the field and turned 14 turnovers into 21 points. Tennessee also had 42 points in the paint and had 21 points off 14 offensive rebounds.
The Vols found out on Jan. 21 they were the No. 1 team in the country. They struggled in their first subsequent game, an overtime victory over Vanderbilt, and while they ultimately ran past West Virginia, they had to overcome a slow start and a 19-7 early deficit to do so.
There were no such struggles Tuesday. The Vols shot 56 percent, becoming the first SEC team to top 50 percent in a game against South Carolina since Texas A&M did on Feb. 3, 2018 – a span of 16 league games, including the SEC tournament.
Bone did a lot of the early work, breaking a 10-all tie with a 3-pointer. He followed that up with a pass over the top of the South Carolina defense to Fulkerson for a layup after a Gamecocks basket, then added another 3-pointer as the Vols started to assume control. They held separate 12-point first-half leads before settling on a 47-38 advantage.
The Gamecocks worked their way back into the game in the second half, cutting the deficit to 60-58 with 13:07 to play. Bone went to work again, drawing a foul and knocking down a pair of free throws, then hitting the first of three consecutive Tennessee 3s. Turner and Schofield followed; then Turner scored on a layup to make it 73-63.
Defensively, the Vols responded during that stretch. South Carolina finished the game with two field goals over the final 10 minutes, a foul-line jumper by Felipe Haase with 9:51 to play and a 3-pointer by Campbell with 4:35 remaining.
“I think we’ve done a pretty decent job adjusting to being the hunted,” Bone said. “We don’t focus much on it; we focus on getting better every single day. We come in day in and day out and do what we’ve been doing since day one.
“Nothing has changed. I think we’ve been very humble, very hungry about it.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.