Tennessee guard Lamonte Turner (1) goes for a shot as he’s fouled by Vanderbilt guard Maxwell Evans during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP photo/Wade Payne)
KNOXVILLE – Tuesday’s offensive performance may have left plenty to be desired for Tennessee.
Defensively was a step in the right direction.
It wasn’t the perfect sort of bounce-back performance after Saturday’s disappointing loss at now-fourth-ranked Kentucky, but the fifth-ranked Volunteers used an 11-2 second-half run to pull away from Vanderbilt and win 58-46 in front of 20,523 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Vols (24-2, 12-1 Southeastern Conference) play Saturday at LSU, which plays tonight at home against Florida and is a half-game back of Tennessee in the league standings with three weeks to play.
The Vols shot 41 percent for the second consecutive game but shut down the Commodores, limiting the visitors to 32 percent shooting for the game and 24 percent in the second half. That was Vanderbilt’s second-worst shooting performance of the season, as it shot 31.9 percent against Kansas State on Dec. 22.