KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Grant Williams recorded his fourth career 30-point game, leading No. 6 Tennessee to a 87-65 victory over Louisiana at Thompson-Boling Arena Friday in front of a crowd of 16,864.
Williams finished with 31 points on 11-for-15 shooting, while also collecting 10 rebounds to give him his sixth career double-double. The performance marked the third straight season in which Williams recorded a 30-point game.
Tennessee (2-0) took a 17-point lead into halftime and was never seriously threatened the rest of the night. To open the second half, Louisiana (1-1) hit five of its first seven shots to gradually cut the Vols’ lead to 13 points, but the Cajuns never got closer than that margin for the remainder of the game.
For the second straight game, all five of Tennessee’s starters scored in double figures. In addition to Williams’ 31, Admiral Schofield had 15 while Jordan Bone, Jordan Bowden and Kyle Alexander had 10 apiece.
Bone tied a career-high with eight assists. Williams’ 10 rebounds led the Vols on the boards, while Schofield and Yves Pons added seven rebounds each.
In the first half, Louisiana came out hot, hitting five of its first six shots to take an early 13-10 lead. On the next possession, a 3-pointer from Bone jumpstarted a 20-2 Tennessee run.
That run helped the Vols take a 15-point lead with 8:34 remaining in the first half, which led to a 48-31 Tennessee advantage at halftime.
Both Williams and Bone reached double-figure scoring in the opening half, with 15 and 10 respectively. Schofield added nine points in the opening frame. All eight Vols that played in the first half converted at least one field goal.
Defensively in the first half, Tennessee forced 10 turnovers by the Ragin’ Cajuns.
STARTERS PAVING THE WAY: The Vols’ five starters – Kyle Alexander, Jordan Bone, Jordan Bowden, Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams – are averaging a combined 73.5 points per game through Tennessee’s first two outings of the season.
ON FIRE THROUGH TWO: Through two games, Tennessee has scored a combined 173 points, the most points by a Tennessee team through the first two games of the season since the 2011-12 campaign (177). Tennessee has also shot 61.9 and 54 percent from the field in its first two games. The Vols shot 50 percent or better from the field during back-to-back games on just one occasion last season.
SHARING THE ROCK: Tennessee finished the game with 27 assists, the most since also dishing out 27 against Ole Miss last season on Feb. 3, 2018. Last season, the Vols averaged 15.7 assists per game. Through two games, UT is averaging 25 assists to its opponents’ nine assists per game.
WILLIAMS REACHES 30 POINTS: Grant Williams’ 31 point performance against Louisiana marks the 12th time that the Charlotte, N.C., native has reached the 20-point threshold in his Tennessee career and first time since last season’s regular-season finale against Georgia.
UP NEXT: Tennessee returns to Thompson-Boling Arena next Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET, meeting with Georgia Tech for the fourth straight season. The game will be televised on ESPN2. Tickets remain available at AllVols.com.
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