KNOXVILLE - The top-ranked Tennessee men's basketball won its 19th consecutive game Wednesday night, building a 19-point lead on its way to an 85-73 win over South Carolina at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Volunteers (23-1, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) will try to extend their program-record winning streak Saturday when they visit No. 5 Kentucky (20-4, 9-2), which is coming off Tuesday's 73-71 loss to No. 19 LSU (20-4, 10-1). After that, Tennessee hosts Vanderbilt next Tuesday before visiting LSU on Feb. 23.
Against South Carolina (12-12, 7-4), Tennessee used a 19-3 first-half run to build a 17-point lead and was ahead 49-36 at the break. In the second half, the Gamecocks got no closer than within 12 points as the Vols completed a sweep of the season series, having won 92-70 at South Carolina on Jan. 29
Admiral Schofield scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Tennessee. Jordan Bowden added 16 points off the bench, while Kyle Alexander, Jordan Bone and Lamonte Turner had 10 each, with Bone adding six assists. Grant Williams was held to eight points, but he had nine rebounds, seven assists and three blocks.
South Carolina's Tre Campbell had 19 points and was 5-for-5 from 3-point range, Chris Silva added 17 points and 15 rebounds and Hassani Gravett chipped in 15 points.
Here is the good, the bad and the verdict for Tennessee from Wednesday's win:
THE GOOD
The offense. For the second time this season, the Vols picked apart the Gamecocks, this time shooting 49 percent from the field and collecting 22 assists on 34 made field goals. The efficiency was evident as Tennessee had six players score from eight to 21 points. After the game, South Carolina coach Frank Martin said Tennessee didn't have a go-to player but rather a "go-to team."
THE BAD
As good as Tennessee's interior defense was (South Carolina was 6-for-26 on layups), the Vols were not as good - or in some cases, fortunate - when the Gamecocks struck from long range. It wasn't as though they played bad defense, but South Carolina was still able to knock down 14 shots behind the 3-point arc. While a few of those looks were open, most were highly contested by Tennessee defenders.
THE VERDICT
The Vols needed to do their part and handle business leading up to Saturday's top-five matchup against the Wildcats, and they did that. Tennessee never was able to fully pull away, but the Gamecocks never were able to make it interesting enough to elicit fear in the home team and its fans, either. Now the Vols can turn all their attention to Saturday night in Lexington, where tipoff is set for 8 and ESPN will televise the game.
This is developing coverage. For more, check back later and see Thursday's Times Free Press.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.