The spirited and up-tempo style of play that Tennessee showcased in the second half at Kentucky last weekend was on display for nearly all 40 minutes Wednesday night as freshman guard Jaden Springer's season-high 30 points propelled the No. 16 Volunteers past Georgia, 89-81 inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
Tom Crean's Bulldogs entered Knoxville having won five of their past seven Southeastern Conference contests, but Tennessee was at a higher level from the opening tip. The Vols raced out to a 13-5 lead behind 3-pointers by Springer and Santiago Vescovi, and they closed out a 44-26 first half with a 9-2 run that featured more 3-pointers by Springer and Vescovi.
Vescovi connected from long range with 1:34 remaining before halftime and as the shot clock expired, drawing a roar from the socially distanced crowd of 4,191, but that roar was topped with 17:56 remaining in the game when Keon Johnson threw down a dunk over 6-foot-8 Bulldogs forward Toumani Camara that extended Tennessee's lead to 49-28. A pair of Josiah-Jordan James free throws at the 16:55 mark gave Tennessee its largest lead at 51-28, but turnovers down the stretch by the Vols allowed Georgia to pull within 79-73 with 1:03 remaining.
"We were standing out front very casual with the ball and let them break it loose, and you've got to give Georgia credit for that, but otherwise there were a lot of good things tonight," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said afterward. "We had some heavy minutes, and maybe fatigue had something to do with that. Jaden played the most minutes he's played in his collegiate career and had a nice night.
"But our three guards had 14 of our turnovers, and that's the frustrating part."
Tennessee's thumping of Georgia transpired without the services of senior guard/forward Yves Pons, who was held out of the game due to knee soreness. Pons is the reigning SEC defensive player of the year, but the Vols weren't in need of his services during a first half in which they shot 53.3% (8-of-15) from 3-point range.
The Vols shot 51.9% overall for the game while improving to 14-4 overall and 7-4 in SEC play, while Georgia slipped to 12-7 and 5-7. Tennessee represented the first ranked team the Bulldogs have faced this season.
"Yves worked really hard to try to play tonight," Barnes said. "He's such a competitor and did everything he could. He hasn't practiced since the Alabama game. The swelling has gone down in his knee, and I would like to think that if he was in the game tonight, he would given us some of that rim protection that we needed but that we didn't have.
"I think he'll be able to play this weekend. I'll be surprised if he doesn't."
Springer's best night of the season transpired on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor, while Vescovi added 19 points, Josiah-Jordan James 18 and Johnson 11. Springer tallied 12 first-half points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from the 3-point line, while Vescovi added 11 points and was 3-of-4 from long range.
Georgia freshman guard K.D. Johnson came off the bench to lead his team with 22 points, while Camara added 14. Johnson was 9-of-15 from the floor.
The Vols will look to continue their impressive ways Saturday afternoon at LSU.
Odds and ends
The Vols entered Wednesday ranked sixth nationally in fewest allowed points per game (59.6) and 10th in turnover margin (plus-4.4 per game). ... Tennessee now leads its series with Georgia by a 97-61 margin, with much of that due to legendary Vols coach Ray Mears posting a 25-4 mark against the Bulldogs.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.