Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes spoke to the media in his postgame press conference Tuesday after the Vols beat the Ole Miss Rebels at home 73-48. Watch that below.
Tennessee freshman forward John Fulkerson spoke to the media in a group session Tuesday after the Vols beat the Ole Miss Rebels at home 73-48. Watch that below.
Tennessee true freshman forward Olivier Nkamhoua spoke to the media in a group session Tuesday after the Vols beat the Ole Miss Rebels at home 73-48. Watch that below.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A dominant offensive performance, highlighted by John Fulkerson’s double-double, resulted in a Tennessee 73-48 victory over Ole Miss Tuesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena. The win marked Rick Barnes‘ 100th victory as Tennessee’s head coach.
The Vols’ victory elevated the team to 12-6 (4-2 SEC). Ole Miss fell to 9-9 (0-5 SEC).
Fulkerson had a hot hand from the start Tuesday, scoring 16 points alone in the first half–giving him the highest-scoring half of his career. The Kingsport native finished with a career-high 18 points, and 10 rebounds gave him his third career double-double.
Freshman Josiah-Jordan James surpassed his season scoring average and concluded the evening with 11 points and a game-high six assists.
Tennessee was dominant during the first half. Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis called two timeouts to try and squelch UT’s momentum, but the Vols–aided by 11 points off turnovers–maintained a double-digit lead for the final 10 minutes of the half.
The first half closed with Ole Miss scoreless for the final three minutes. After shooting just 23 percent, the Rebels trailed, 42-23, at the break.
LE STREAK IS TIED: Yves Pons lived up to his reputation as one of Tennessee’s elite shot-blockers, finishing with three on the night. Pons has now recorded at least one block in each of the Vols’ first 18 games, marking the longest such streak by a Vol since C.J. Black recorded a block in 18 consecutive games over portions of two seasons in 1998. Pons added six points in the win.
THAT FULKY FLOW: John Fulkerson scored a career-high 18 points and logged his third career double-double Tuesday. During the first 10 minutes of the game, Fulkerson outscored the entire Ole Miss team, as he had 10 points with the Vols holding a 19-9 lead.
WELCOME, UROŠ: Recently granted eligibility by the NCAA, redshirt freshman big man Uros Plavsic received a warm welcome by a crowd of 17,031 in Thompson-Boling Arena. Plavsic netted four points in nearly 11 minutes off the bench in his home debut.
WINNING FOR THE CAUSE: With Tuesday’s win, Tennessee is now 17-5 all-time in NABC Coaches vs. Cancer “Suits & Sneakers” games. That includes an 11-2 record at Thompson-Boling Arena. Dating to 2017, the Vols have won seven straight Suits & Sneakers contests.
UP NEXT: The Vols head to the University of Kansas for a Saturday afternoon tilt with Bill Self’s third-ranked Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse. The SEC/Big 12 Challenge showdown tips off at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN. College Gameday will broadcast live from KU’s historic venue Saturday morning.
BOX SCORE | HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTOS | QUOTES | BARNES POSTGAME
-UT Athletics
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — University of Tennessee guard Jordan Horston has been named the SEC Women’s Basketball Freshman of the Week, the league office announced on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 14 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.5 blocks and a steal last week to help Tennessee move into second place in the SEC Standings. The product of Columbus, Ohio, has started every game but the opener and has been instrumental in the No. 23/25 Lady Vols’ 15-3 overall record and 5-1 SEC start.
Horston led the Lady Vols in scoring with an SEC-high 19 points, helping UT end a five-game series losing streak to Alabama on Monday night with a 65-63 victory. She also pulled down eight rebounds and tallied four assists, a career-best four blocks and a steal.
At Florida last Thursday evening, Horston played a smooth floor game in UT’s 28-point triumph, scoring nine points and tallying five assists, four rebounds, three blocks and a steal in 23 minutes.
Horston now has scored in double figures 11 times, including in eight of the last 10 games. The other two contests, she tallied nine points. She is second in the SEC with a 5.0 assists per game average and is the only freshman among the top 15 in that category.
The award is the first of Horston’s career and the initial award given to a UT rookie this season. Rennia Davis is the only Tennessee player this season to garner conference honors with her SEC Player of the Week nod on Nov. 12.
UT Athletics
Luke Combs will be the musical guest on an upcoming episode of Saturday Night Live.
Luke will take the stage on Feb. 1, as NFL player JJ Watt tackles the hosting duties.
In the past five years, a handful of country stars have performed on SNL, including Blake Shelton (January 2015), Zac Brown Band (March 2015), Chris Stapleton (January 2016, January 2018), Maren Morris (December 2016), Margo Price (April 2016), Sturgill Simpson (January 2017, January 2018), Kacey Musgraves (May 2018) and Thomas Rhett (March 2019).
photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com
The guys from Old Dominion—Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Geoff Sprung, Brad Tursi and Whit Sellers—will try to score their ninth No. 1 single with the release of “Some People Do.”
Penned by Thomas Rhett, Jesse Frasure, Shane McAnally and Old Dominion’s Matthew Ramsey, “Some People Do,” which is featured on OD’s 2019 self-titled album, will impact country radio on March 2.
“It’s a breaking-point song,” says Matthew. “I don’t care who you are, if you’re in this business . . . you wind up hurting people that you love. Whether that be with your travel or maybe you are drinking too much. So, the want to change is there. Inherently we’re all good people and wanna be good people, and it’s about that want to be the best person for the people that you love.”
Listen to “Some People Do” below.
photo by Curtis Hilbun, AFF-USA.com
The Gift of Music charity concert at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Jan. 30 will feature a lineup that includes Dolly Parton, Lee Greenwood, Lonestar, Collin Raye, T.G. Sheppard, Drew Baldridge, Abby Anderson, Artimus Pyle Band, Eric Lee Beddingfield, Red Mountain Bluegrass Band, Brad and Maisy Stella, Taylon Hope and Scott Bass.
The Gift of Music concert, which has been hosted by the Dustin J. Wells Foundation since 2008, will benefit the local W.O. Smith Music School and Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation. The Dustin J. Wells Foundation honors the memory of of Dustin Jack Wells, who died in a car accident in 2005.
Tickets for the concert will go on sale on Jan. 24 at 10 a.m. CT.
photo by Curtis Hilbun, AFF-USA.com
Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay scored their seventh No. 1 single as “10,000 Hours,” which features Justin Bieber, ascended to the top spot on both the Billboard Country Airplay chart and Mediabase chart this week.
Co-penned by Dan, Shay, Justin, Jessie Jo Dillon, Jordan Reynolds and Jason Boyd, “10,000 Hours” features Shay and Justin trading vocals alongside Dan’s production. The tune is the first new music from Dan + Shay since the release of their 2018 self-titled album, which spawned three No. 1 singles: “All to Myself,” “Tequila” and “Speechless.”
The duo thanked fans and country radio via Twitter: “country radio, you are so good to us. thank you for taking #10KHOURS to #1 this week. we appreciate you like crazy. and as always, thank you to our fans for continuing to write this story. please help us say thanks by tagging your local country radio station(s).”
photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com
Blake Shelton released a tender new video for his duet with Gwen Stefani, “Nobody But You.”
Penned by Ross Copperman, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne and Tommy Lee James, “Nobody But You” is one of four new tracks on Blake’s recently released album, Fully Loaded: God’s Country.
“I was at The Voice compound and Shane McAnally is on Songland, so they were there doing some cross-promotion,” says Blake. “Shane came to my trailer and said, ‘Man, I got a song for you.’ I knew he had Gwen’s number from a write, so I told him to send it to her as I was being called to set. I actually got the song twice because my producer Scott Hendricks emailed it to me right after. Then one day I was driving with Gwen and I said, ‘Hey, let’s listen to that song from Shane, because Scott sent it to me too—it must be pretty incredible.’ When I heard it, I was just floored. I realized how important that song was for me and where I am in my life right now. I just think it’s magical. I literally think it’s important of a song as I’ve ever recorded.”
The new single will impact country radio on Jan. 21. Blake and Gwen will perform together at the 62nd Grammy Awards on Jan. 26.
Watch Blake and Gwen’s new video below.
photo by Chase Rollins, AFF-USA.com
