Tennessee point guard Kennedy Chandler did a little bit of everything Tuesday night as the No. 24 Volunteers outlasted Vanderbilt 68-60 at Memorial Gym in Nashville.
The five-star freshman scored 13 points and collected five steals, four assists and four rebounds as Tennessee improved to 12-5 overall and 3-3 in Southeastern Conference play. Chandler also committed five turnovers and four fouls, and there was that second half elbow to the head he endured that didn't appear in the box score.
Tennessee won its ninth consecutive series meeting against the Commodores, who fell to 10-7 and 2-3.
A Scotty Pippen Jr. 3-pointer with 1:22 remaining pulled Vanderbilt into a 60-60 tie, but a Uros Plavsic put back with 55 seconds left put the Vols ahead to stay at 62-60. Tennessee backup point guard Zakai Zeigler then stole an inbounds pass and made two free throws for a 64-60 lead with 49 seconds remaining.
The game was briefly halted with 6:05 remaining to review a couple of skirmishes that resulted in four technical fouls, two on each team.
Barnes opted for a starting lineup that omitted sixth-year senior forward John Fulkerson, instead going with Chandler, Santiago Vescovi, Josiah-Jordan James, Olivier Nkamhoua and Plavsic. Fulkerson entered three minutes into the contest, but his brief first-half stint consisted of no points, one turnover and three fouls.
James suffered a poke to his eye early in the game and didn't play the rest of the way.
Neither team led by more than four points during a first half that contained 11 lead changes, with Tennessee eventually taking a 33-32 into intermission on the strength of two 3-pointers apiece by Vescovi and Justin Powell.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.