Gonzaga guard Josh Perkins, left, steals the ball from Tennessee guard Shembari Phillips (25) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
NASHVILLE - Tennessee left itself too tall a mountain to climb in a mid-state clash with one of college basketball's remaining unbeaten teams.
The Volunteers trimmed a 21-point first-half deficit all the way down to four in the final minutes, but couldn't get over the hump against eighth-ranked Gonzaga, which moved to 11-0 with a deserved 86-76 victory at Bridgestone Arena in the "Battle on Broadway" on Sunday afternoon.
Tennessee let a 15-point lead in the first half fade in the loss at North Carolina a week ago, but the chances of an upset looked bleak save for an intense few minutes in the second half as the Vols (6-5) charged back from a double-digit deficit.
Detrick Mostella scored all but two of his team-leading 17 points in the second half for Tennessee, and Robert Hubbs III added 10.
Coming off a 30-point game on Thursday, Vols freshman Grant Williams scored 11 in 15 foul-plagued minutes, while Lew Evans started for the injured John Fulkerson (elbow) and struggled with 1-of-8 shooting and four turnovers.
Washington transfer Nigel Williams-Goss scored 20 points to lead the Zags, who overcame 20 turnovers and foul trouble in a game plagued with unnecessary whistles and bad calls both ways.
The Zags pushed a 14-point halftime lead to 18 (55-37) on Przemek Karnowski's layup with a little less than 16 minutes to go, but Tennessee kept coming and chipping away at its deficit.
Tennessee went on a 10-3 spurt following a Jordan Mathews 3 as Mostella hit from outside and banked in an awkward runner to pull the Vols to within 67-58 with 8:41 left.
Lamonte Turner's 3 made it 70-64 with 6:08 to go, and Jordan Bowden's floater after an offensive rebound got the Vols to within four heading into the final minutes.
Gonzaga responded, though, as Williams-Goss converted a three-point play to push the lead back to 75-66, Josh Perkins answered a Hubbs basket with a jumper and Killian Tillie hit two free throws after pulling down a key offensive rebound.
The Vols shot just 30 percent for the game and missed nine free throws.
Gonzaga scored the game's first eight points as transfers Mathews (California) and Johnathan Williams III (Missouri) hit 3s, and the Zags never looked back.
Tennessee's offense found nothing easy against one of the nation's best defensive teams, and Gonzaga took a 21-point lead (27-6) less than eight minutes into the game thanks to a 17-2 run fueled by a hot shooting start.
The Zags made 10 of their first 14 shots and started 6-of-9 on 3-pointers
The Vols trailed 37-20 with a little less than five minutes left in the first half and missed a golden chance to go into halftime down 11 or 12.
In the final minute freshman guard Kwe Parker scored and was fouled on a drive before clanking the free throw, and after a turnover Evans's inbounds pass with 2.1 seconds left went right to Gonzaga's Silas Melson, who gladly took the gift in for a dunk and a 43-29 halftime lead.
Gonzaga shot 58 percent in the first half and suffocated Tennessee, which shot just 23.5 percent from the floor.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.