It was another sleepy start tonight in Knoxville for No. 9 Tennessee, but it was another strong finish. The Volunteers, now 2-0 on the season, had nothing going offensively in the opening ten minutes, but a quick 6-0 run would set the tempo for the rest of the night.
It was Terrence Hill Jr. creating for Tennessee when they needed to make something happen, and at times Dai Dai Ames. Hill attacked both the paint and the three-point line, while the Tennessee defense generated some opportunities with
seven first-half steals.
Tennessee took a 33-24 lead into the halftime break.
The Volunteers, who had another tough shooting night, attacked the paint to extend the lead in the second half. Radford hung tough for several minutes, but Tennessee’s ability to get to the rim was the difference. The Vols won the battle in the paint 40-14, and got to the free throw stripe 23 times. Tennessee hit 18-23 attempts from the line. Dai Dai Ames accounted for six of those attempts, while Jalen Haralson got involved and connected on three of his four attempts.
DeWayne Brown, coming off of a career-best 17 points against Wofford, couldn’t find it on the offensive end tonight. He did dominate the boards, however, grabbing 12 rebounds to lead the team. Miles Rubin added seven and Haralson was credited with six.
Tennessee’s lead pushed out to nearly 30 points with five minutes to play. The Vols would cruise from there, securing a 70-47 win over Radford.
Terrence Hill Jr. led the way with 18 points. Juke Harris, still struggling to find his groove, scored just six points on 1-9 shooting from the field. Jalen Haralson had his best game yet for Tennessee, scoring 11 points and grabbing six boards.
Rick Barnes will undoubtedly want to clean up the slow start, and the 15 turnovers. Tyler Lundblade had a tough night offensively and looked out of sync as he tried to make things happen as a passer tonight. The Belmont transfer was credited with four turnovers on the night.
Tennessee will be back in action on Friday night against Tennessee State.
