KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team collected a 70-47 triumph Monday night against Radford at Food City Center.
Junior guard Terrence Hill Jr., led all scorers with 18 points for No. 11/9 Tennessee (2-0) in a contest it fully controlled on the defensive end of the floor.
Both sides started 3-of-13 from the field, including 1-of-5 beyond the arc, and the game was tied at 10 midway through the opening half. Radford (0-3) scored the next basket, but the Volunteers answered with a 6-0 burst in just 49 seconds to claim a 16-12 advantage with 7:59 remaining in the stanza.
The home team later held the Highlanders scoreless for a span of 3:14 late in the session. During that span, junior guard Terrence Hill Jr., went on a personal 8-0 run in 1:28 to put his team in front by double figures, 31-21, with 1:28 to go in the frame.
Tennessee took a nine-point edge, 33-24, into the break, after making nine of its 13 field-goal attempts in the last nine minutes of the half. It also had an 18-4 cushion in first-half paint points, including a quartet of dunks.
The Volunteers held Radford to three points on 1-of-7 shooting in the first 5:55 of the second half, while extending their lead to 15 points, 42-27. The Highlanders closed within 10 at the 12:31 mark, but then Tennessee took over the rest of the way.
Over the next 8:32, the Volunteers did not allow a single point, forcing 12 consecutive misses and five turnovers. They logged 16 points in a row over a 6:33 stretch to claim a game-best 26-point lead, 62-36, with 5:43 on the timer.
With the game already out of reach, Radford scored 11 of the final 19 points in the last four minutes to make it a 23-point final differential.
Hill’s 18-point showing came on a strong 6-of-9 mark from the field, including a 2-of-4 clip from deep, alongside a perfect 4-of-4 ledger at the stripe. The Portland, Ore., native added three assists and two steals in the triumph.
Senior guard Dai Dai Ames scored 13 points, shooting 4-of-7 from the field and 5-of-6 at the line, while sophomore guard Jalen Haralson had 11 points, six rebounds and a career-best three steals. Sophomore forward DeWayne Brown II led all players with 12 rebounds, while sophomore guard Troy Henderson did so with a career-high-tying six assists.
Redshirt sophomore guard Jordyn Kee led the visitors with 16 points on a 6-of-11 field-goal clip, including a 3-of-4 ledger from deep. Sophomore guard Warren Keel Jr., added 13 points for Radford.
Tennessee held the Highlanders to just 16-of-61 (26.2 percent) shooting. That featured a 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) clip from 3-point range.
Radford became the first Tennessee opponent to shoot under 30.0 percent in both halves and/or score fewer than 50 points since Feb. 1, 2025, when No. 5/6 Florida, the eventual national champion, did so.
Tennessee is back in action Friday at 7 p.m. when it takes on Tennessee State at Food City Center, live on SEC Network+.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS POSTGAME NOTES
• Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes now owns 863 victories in his career, still good for second-most among all active Division I head coaches and in the No. 10 spot all-time (min. 10 years in Division I).
• The Volunteers remained perfect in their series with Radford, upping its mark to 4-0 versus the Highlanders, all at home.
• Tennessee’s four wins versus the Highlanders have come under the direction of four different head coaches.
• Monday marked the first meeting between the teams since Dec. 17, 2001, as well as the first one in the month of November.
• Tennessee improved to 31-0 all-time against the current Big South membership, its most wins versus any league without a loss.
• Barnes is also perfect against the Big South’s current schools, owning a 26-0 ledger, also his best mark versus any conference without a defeat.
• Tennessee claimed its 46th consecutive non-conference home win, extending the program record that spans seven seasons and dates to Dec. 8, 2020, in the 2020-21 season opener.
• Monday marked the 40th time in Barnes’ tenure the Volunteers held their opponent to 50 or fewer points, including the 33rd instance below that mark.
• Florida scored 44 points against the Volunteers on Feb. 1, 2025, while shooting 25.9 percent (7-of-27) before the break and 23.1 percent (6-of-26) after it, with that the most recent instance of a Tennessee foe scoring fewer than 50 points and/or shooting below 30.0 percent in both halves.
• Tennessee finished with nine blocked shots, tying its top mark over the last two seasons, with this the third time since the start of the 2025-26 campaign it hit that figure.
• Hill was one of three players to make their first start at Tennessee, alongside junior guard Juke Harris and junior forward Braedan Lue.
• After notching three-plus assists three times during the entirety of his freshman campaign, Brown has hit that mark in each of the first two games of 2026-27.
• Brown has reached double-figure rebounds in each of the first two contests of the year after hitting that mark an equal two times all of last season, with all four of his such performances featuring at least 12 boards.
• This is the first time Brown has amassed double-digit rebounds in consecutive games as a Volunteer.
• The only other Volunteer in the Barnes era (2015-27) to log 12-plus rebounds multiple times in multiple seasons is Kyle Alexander, who did so twice in both 2017-18 and 2018-19.
• Henderson logged six assists to tie the career high he set on Dec. 30, 2025, versus South Carolina State, with Monday his third time reaching five-plus in a contest.
• Henderson also recorded multiple steals in an outing for the fifth time in his career, including the fourth in a regulation affair.
• Haralson racked up three steals to set a new career best, eclipsing the mark of two he tallied thrice as a freshman at Notre Dame.
• Senior center Miles Rubin finished with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting, seven rebounds and three blocked shots, giving him three-plus blocks for the 43rd time in his career.
• In just 78 seconds of action, freshman forward Chris Washington Jr., posted the first two blocked shots of his career.
