KNOXVILLE — Donnie Tyndall stepped through the doorway into the media room at Thompson-Boling Arena on Thursday night and let out an audible sigh.
It was a fitting response to the half of basketball Tennessee’s coach had just witnessed.
The Volunteers suffered a fourth straight loss after Vanderbilt rode a sizzling second half to turn a 13-point deficit with 13 minutes to go into a 73-65 win that avenged an overtime loss in Nashville to its instate rivals 16 days ago.
In notching its first win in Knoxville since 2010, Vanderbilt made 16 of 19 shots and 9 of 11 3-pointers — and one of those misses rolled around the rim about five times — in the second half to hand the Vols their fourth Southeastern Conference home ss in a single season for the first time since 1994-95.
“There was effort,” said Vols forward Derek Reese, who scored a career-high 13 points in defeat. “It wasn’t like we were giving them open layups every time, but they’re a very good shooting team. They’re a very good team.
“You let any shooting team or any shooters get their confidence up, they’re going to keep shooting it and keep making it, and that’s what happened.”
Tennessee (14-13, 6-9), which has lost eight of its last 10 games, erased an early 11-point deficit with a 25-3 close to the first half. That surge included a 14-0 run and the last 11 points of the half.
The Vols led 30-19 at the break after Vanderbilt (16-12, 6-9) missed its final nine shots of the half, but by the time Luke Kornet, the Commodores’ 7-foot center, finished leading a 3-point shooting barrage in the second half, that cold spell was a distant memory.
“Vanderbilt deserves a ton of credit,” Tyndall said. “They played probably as good as a team’s ever played against us, this season for sure, in the second half offensively. They just shot it incredibly well.
“We tried every defense. We changed our zones, we went man-to-man, tried to trap the corner to get them out of rhythm, and we just couldn’t get to shooters. A lot of it stems from not guarding the dribble to take away layups or dribble penetration into the paint.”
The Commodores erased Tennessee’s 45-32 lead with a 16-3 surge that tied the game at 48 with eight minutes left. Kornet hit a trio of triples during the run, and after Damian Jones put Vanderbilt ahead with a three-point play with 7:20 left, the big sophomore followed Wade Baldwin’s 3 with his fifth trey of the game.
Jones dunked in transition to complete a 27-5 run and give Vanderbilt a 59-50 lead.
“Luke’s a good shooter, so if you let a good shooter get his head up, it’s going to be a long night,” Josh Richardson said after leading Tennessee with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists.
“I don’t think we guarded them like we know how to,” he added. “When we were playing defense like we know how to at the end of the first half, we were up 12. The second half, I think we got kind of relaxed.
“We just let them sit out there and shoot 3s all game.”
The Commodores made their final 13 shots of the game and missed just three times in the second half.
“I don’t know how that happens,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. “We usually can’t do that when we’re running five-on-zero and there is no defense. Guys started making them, then the baskets starts looking bigger, guys start feeling good about each other and feel good about themselves and good things happen.
“Donnie Tyndall does a great job with that zone. They do a great job of playing hard and playing physically. We were fortunate to kind of figure out a way in the second half, because they had us bottled up in the first half.”
Tennessee scored 24 second-chance points off 19 offensive rebounds and owned a 37-19 advantage on the glass, but that was a product of Vanderbilt not missing many shots.
“It’s frustrating because we emphasize that, we want that,” Reese said. “Coach Tyndall says if we do that, we’re going to win. But there’s other areas we have to control, too.
“We let a couple shooters get going and get their confidence up, and they just couldn’t miss.”
Both teams now face a quick turnaround, with Tennessee traveling to Florida today for a Saturday night tip.
“Every loss is upsetting,” Richardson said. “I’m just upset we lost. I’m glad we play in two days.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.