Tennessee’s offensive woes against Lone Star State opponents are no longer.
After averaging just 51.5 points per game in tight losses this season to Texas Tech and Texas, the No. 22 Volunteers shot 50.9% from the floor and racked up 22 assists on 29 field goals Tuesday night in a 90-80 defeat of Texas A&M before 16,607 fans inside Thompson-Boling Arena. Tennessee improved to 15-6 overall and 6-3 in Southeastern Conference play by bouncing back from Saturday night’s 52-51 loss at Texas in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
The Vols have yet to lose consecutive games this season.
“I didn’t think it would be that kind of game,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said in a news conference after improving to 30-9 lifetime against the Aggies. “I thought the game would be in the 60s both ways. They had a pretty good offensive night, too, but we had better ball movement, and I thought we played with more speed.”
The 90 points marked a Tennessee high this season in a conference game, easily surpassing the 79 points in the 28-point loss at Kentucky on Jan. 15.
Tennessee’s most meaningful scoring outburst Tuesday occurred after an Andre Gordon jumper pulled the Aggies within 60-59 with 8:49 remaining. The Vols responded with a 16-2 surge to take control at 76-61, as Justin Powell made a pair of 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the court with less than six minutes to play.
“Justin would play a lot more if he would shoot the ball when he’s open,” Barnes said.
The Vols made 11 of 26 attempts from 3-point range (42.3%) and got quite the balanced scoring night, with Kennedy Chandler and Olivier Nkamhoua leading the way with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Josiah-Jordan James and Zakazi Zeiger scored 14 apiece, while Santiago Vescovi added 13.
Tennessee players said the late going Saturday night, when the Vols scored 16 straight points to tie the Longhorns 51-51, served as a motivating factor against the Aggies.
“At the ending of that game Saturday, we saw what we could do and how we could play with force and with speed and attack,” Nkamhoua said. “We were moving with speed and moving the ball and playing with tremendous force.”
Said James: “We found our groove in the last six or seven minutes of that Texas game. Our defense will be with us night in and night out, and we tried to learn from what we did at Texas.”
Wade Taylor IV had a game-high 19 points for the Aggies, who dropped to 15-7 and 4-5 in league play following their fifth straight loss.
Tennessee shot out of the gate with a James 3-pointer and a Chandler steal that led to a James dunk that resulted in a 5-0 lead within the game’s first minute. A Zeigler 3-pointer at the 13:39 mark of the first half put the Vols up 17-6, and they would eventually lead by 13 on two occasions before taking a 43-35 lead at halftime.
The Vols opened the second half on an 8-2 run, with a Chandler layup at the 17:27 mark putting Tennessee up 51-37.
“It’s what we’ve been wanting all year,” Barnes said of the offensive performance. “We’ve been talking about playing with force and playing with speed. We don’t want to have to come down and grind it out.”
Odds and ends
Tennessee is 12-0 this season in Thompson-Boling Arena and has won 13 straight dating back to last season. … The SEC record for career games was set at 152 by Kentucky’s Darius Miller from 2008-12. John Fulkerson played in his 151st career contest Tuesday.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.