Tennessee forward Jarnell Stokes (5) and forward Kenny Hall (20) pressure Mississippi State forward Roquez Johnson (25) as he goes up for a basket Saturday during the first half of an NCAA game at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.
Mississippi State guard Jalen Steele (0) shoots Saturday as Tennessee guard Trae Golden (11) and guard Armani Moore (4) defend during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.KNOXVILLE – Off to its first 0-3 SEC start in 15 seasons, the Tennessee men’s basketball team needed a comprehensive effort to stop the bleeding.
The Volunteers found it rather easy to apply the band-aid against undermanned Mississippi State.
Freshman Derek Reese hit a trio of 3-pointers during a decisive 13-2 second-half run, and the bounce-back performances of the struggling Jarnell Stokes and Trae Golden paced Tennessee’s 72-57 win at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday afternoon.
“We definitely needed a win,” Stokes said after scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. “Me and Trae, we definitely talked a lot through these last couple of games [because] both of us have been playing bad. We definitely needed a game like this.
“Both of us stayed confident throughout it all.”