A late, late Saturday night in Texas resulted in a win for Tennessee.
Josiah-Jordan Ja.es tied a career-high with 23 points and Zakai Zeigler added 20 as the No. 12 Volunteers turned back North Carolina State 79-70 in the Hall of Fame Series at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. Tennessee improved to 8-3 by prevailing in a contest that ended Sunday morning at 12:10 Eastern time.
James and Zeigler helped the Vols overcome rough performances by their leading scorer and their hottest player, as Dalton Knecht and Jonas Aidoo combined for just six points on 3-of-11 shooting.
“Our older guys brought it home for us,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said on the Vol Network. “It was exactly the kind of game we thought we would be in. I thought Josiah had a really solid game tonight.”
A Jayden Taylor 3-pointer with 7:17 remaining tied the game at 60-60 and erased an 11-point lead that Tennessee had built, but the Vols countered with a James 3-pointer and a Tobe Awaka short jumper to go back up 65-61. Awaka chipped in five points for Tennessee but was even more valuable with his 12 rebounds.