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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Stifling defense and balanced scoring by No. 4 Tennessee led to a fourth consecutive home victory over Georgia, as the Vols cruised to a decisive 70-41 win at Thompson-Boling Arena Wednesday night.
The Volunteers’ defensive effort Wednesday was bolstered by Santiago Vescovi’s career-high-tying five steals, as Tennessee held Georgia to just to 29.1 percent (16-for-55) shooting from the field. Offensively, Zakai Zeigler led the way with 11 points and seven assists, while Tobe Awaka was the second Vol in double figures with a career-high 10 points on 3-for-3 shooting. Overall, nine different Vols scored five or more points.
Tennessee (17-3, 7-1 SEC), which owns the best adjusted defensive efficiency in the country per KenPom, held an opponent to under 50 points for the 10th time this season, forcing Georgia (13-7, 3-4 SEC) to miss 20 of its 27 field goal attempts in the second half.
Offensively, the Vols doubled the Bulldogs in paint points, 36-18. Freshman Julian Phillips logged a career-high six assists Wednesday night, besting his previous best of four, which came in Tennessee’s win over McNeese State earlier this season. Vescovi was responsible for a team-best plus/minus rating of +29 in UT’s 29-point triumph.
Tennessee ramped up its defensive intensity as the game progressed, with Georgia scoring 17 points in the first 9:10 of play and only 13 points in next 22:55. Tennessee tallied 25 points off Georgia’s 20 total turnovers Wednesday.
Georgia led 6-4 at the game’s first media timeout and never led again. A pair of Zeigler 3-point makes within a minute of game time sparked a 9-0 Tennessee run. A consistent offensive surge saw the Vols build their first double-digit advantage, using a 16-4 run to take a 33-18 lead with under four minutes remaining in the opening half.
Tennessee took a 35-22 into halftime, led by Zeigler’s eight points and a team shooting mark of 43.3 percent from the field. Vescovi’s four first-half steals led the way for the Vols defensively in the opening 20 minutes.
After Tennessee led by 13 at halftime and steadily extended the lead up to 19 in the opening minutes of the second half, the Vols forced Georgia into a scoring drought of over five minutes in which it committed six turnovers, allowing Tennessee to rattle off a 12-0 run and take a commanding 27-point lead at 57-30 with 8:40 to go.
With 7:55 to go, a Georgia 3-pointer from Terry Roberts ended a streak of nine consecutive missed field goals for the Bulldogs. Roberts, who entered Wednesday averaging 15.9 points per game, was held to 5-for-15 shooting from the field and just 1-for-5 from beyond the arc on the night.
UP NEXT: Tennessee takes a brief break from conference play to welcome Texas to town for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. ET on ESPN. ESPN College GameDay will also be live from Knoxville on Saturday, broadcasting from Thompson-Boling Arena starting at 11 a.m. ET.
WINNING BIG: Through just 20 games, Tennessee has now recorded 11 wins by 20 or more points—tied for the most in a single season in program history.
CONSISTENTLY LOCKDOWN D: Tennessee has now held its opponent to 50 or fewer points 10 times this season—a mark that leads the nation.
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER “KILL SHOT”: With a 10-0 run stretching from the 14:31 mark to the 8:40 mark of the second half, Tennessee recorded its 21st “kill shot” of the season.
Tennessee’s 21 “kill shots” this season are tied for the third-most in the nation. Kill shots are defined as a run of 10 or more consecutive points by one team. The Vols have surrendered just three kill shots all season.
HE’LL TAKE THAT: Santiago Vescovi, who entered Wednesday’s game ranked 26th in the nation with a 2.2 steals per game average, recorded a career-high-tying five steals during the win.
Vescovi, who had four steals in the first half alone, is one of three Vols to have recorded four or more steals in a game this season (Jahmai Mashack, Zakai Zeigler).
-UT Athletics
