VANDERBILT 86, TENNESSEE 69
TENNESSEE (13-17, 6-11 SEC)Moore 6-16 1-2 13, Schofield 6-9 0-0 12, Alexander 0-1 0-0 0, Phillips 8-17 3-3 23, Baulkman 3-8 0-0 7, Kasongo 1-1 1-1 3, Mostella 2-4 0-0 6, Reese 1-3 1-2 3, Woodson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-61 6-8 69.VANDERBILT (19-11, 11-6)Jones 7-8 0-0 14, Henderson 1-1 0-0 2, Fisher-Davis 2-10 2-4 6, Watkins 1-1 0-0 2, Josephs 0-0 0-0 0, Justice 3-5 0-0 8, Toye 2-4 0-1 5, Kornet 2-4 3-4 7, Baldwin IV 4-11 6-6 17, Roberson 4-10 5-5 14, LaChance 0-1 0-0 0, McGloin 0-0 0-0 0, Sehic 0-0 0-0 0, Cressler 5-9 1-1 11. Totals 31-64 17-21 86.Halftime—Vanderbilt 43-24. 3-Point Goals—Tennessee 7-13 (Phillips 4-5, Mostella 2-2, Baulkman 1-3, Woodson 0-1, Reese 0-1, Schofield 0-1), Vanderbilt 7-21 (Baldwin IV 3-5, Justice 2-4, Toye 1-2, Roberson 1-3, Kornet 0-1, Cressler 0-2, Fisher-Davis 0-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Tennessee 32 (Phillips 7), Vanderbilt 37 (Roberson 8). Assists—Tennessee 9 (Moore 6), Vanderbilt 17 (Baldwin IV 7). Total Fouls—Tennessee 18, Vanderbilt 13. A—13,099.
NASHVILLE – Shembari Phillips was listening to a reporter’s question in the hallway outside Tennessee’s locker room at Memorial Gym on Tuesday night when his counterpart stepped out of the adjacent interview room.
On his way back to his own locker room, Vanderbilt’s Wade Baldwin IV paused to offer Phillips a fist bump and tell him he was “a (heck) of a player.”
He’s also a player who’s learning on the fly under the heat of the bright lights of Southeastern Conference basketball.
The freshman led the Volunteers on Tuesday night with a career-best 23 points, but he also made some key mistakes as the Commodores buried Tennessee with two decisive runs in an 86-69 win.
“I had some key turnovers that really, in my opinion, gave the game away,” Phillips said. “I need to get better on that. I believe those two turnovers I had were really the turning point.”
Such is life for a freshman forced into heavy minutes and a starring role, and Phillips isn’t the only Vol who fits that bill.
Tennessee (13-17, 6-11) again played without leading scorer Kevin Punter Jr. and enigmatic forward Robert Hubbs III, and Armani Moore battled through a fever that forced him off his feet all day.
The senior still played 37 minutes, scored 13 points and handed out six assists.
“He’s been sick pretty bad,” Vols freshman Admiral Schofield said. “He was asleep all day today. He wasn’t at shootaround. It’s a testament to how tough he is and how competitive he is.
“I thought he was going to pass out because of the way he looked, but he kept fighting. That’s what motivated me tonight, to keep fighting with him. I didn’t do well on the defensive end, and I feel like I let him down.”
Decisive stretches at the end of the first half and midway through the second sent the Vols to a third straight loss heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale.
After five ties and five lead changes in the opening 12 minutes, Vanderbilt (19-11, 11-6) outscored the visitors 28-8 in the final 7:47 of the first half.
That stretch was punctuated by the Commodores scoring seven consecutive points, aided by some indifferent defense, an offensive rebound of a missed free throw and a turnover, in the final 42 seconds to take a 43-24 lead into halftime.
“The way we ended the first half,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said, “was terrible.”
After scoring two early baskets, Schofield wound up playing six minutes in the first half after picking up his third foul at the 9:43 mark.
“It was very frustrating,” Schofield said after finishing with 12 points, “because my preparation for this game was probably the hardest I’ve prepared for any game this season. I felt like I was going to have a big night, and I really wanted to have a big impact on the game. I let my defensive mishaps knock me out of the game in the first half.
“I think that’s one of the reasons we got down, because I realize I do play a key part in our team, and I wasn’t able to stay in in the first half because of fouls.”
Tennessee trimmed a 21-point lead to 10 on Phillips’ 3 at the 11:39 mark, and the Vols eventually had possession down 59-49.
Four Vols turnovers – two from Phillips – in five possessions later, Vanderbilt was off on a 15-0 run that stretched the lead to 25 and quelled any hopes the Vols had of a remarkable comeback.
“We made a lot of mistakes on offense as far as turnovers when it was crunch time,” Schofield said. “It wasn’t Shembari’s fault completely. It was everyone’s because we didn’t get open and help him release pressure. The effort was there. We just couldn’t finish it.”
Tennessee had just one timeout left by that point because of its efforts to keep Moore fresh, and Barnes elected not to use it as Vanderbilt piled on the points and the crowd got loud.
“I wanted them to learn through it,” Barnes said. “Armani, I knew that we were going to have him out there, and every timeout we called it looked like he was exhausted. At that point in time, there’s nothing else we could tell them. We’d told them everything (we needed) to tell them. Those were just careless mistakes and turnovers.”
For Phillips and Tennessee’s other young players, it was one big learning experience.
“When things get tough,” Phillips said, “you’ve got to keep fighting.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.