In a basketball game containing far more defense than offense, Tennessee returned to its winning ways Tuesday night inside Thompson-Boling Arena with a 66-46 thumping of South Carolina.
That it was far from free-flowing surprised nobody, as the No. 22 Volunteers held Frank Martin’s Gamecocks to 34.7% shooting while forcing 23 turnovers.
“South Carolina and Tennessee mirror each other I think more than any two teams in the league,” Vols seventh-year coach Rick Barnes said. “When I got here and tried to show an example of what it takes to play high-level defense those first couple years, we would watch South Carolina tape with our players and say, ‘This is what it takes to win on nights you’re not shooting well.’
“I’ve known Frank Martin forever, and I know what it was like playing against him when he was at Kansas State. To get to the standard we wanted, South Carolina was the team we emulated. Grant (Williams) and those guys would tell you that they learned a lot from watching those teams.”
Tennessee made 7-of-21 attempts from 3-point range, with that 33.3% clip serving as its high-water mark in Southeastern Conference play, in improving to 11-4 overall and 2-2 within the league. The Vols, however, were a grisly 11-of-25 from the free-throw line (44.0%).