Tennessee Routs the Citadel 86-55
By Nat Scott
Before Thursday night the Vols played six straight games decided by eight points or less; however, that streak came to a resounding end in a 86 to 55 win over Citadel. The victory brought the Vols back to .500 on the season at 6-6, and was also their third straight win. Before tonight’s game Freshman Yemi Makanjuola had scored 18 points in his entire career at UT. He would lead the Vols in scoring on the night with 18 points and also added 11 rebounds in 13 minutes of play.
“I have never seen anything like that before. Yemi played great and to have a double-double in 13 minutes is amazing. It was a great game for him. You can see his work in practice carrying over into the games,” said guard Trae Golden.
Makanjuola entered the game in the second half with 13 minutes to go with the game already well in hand, but over the next eight minutes, rattled off 18 straight points and pulled in 11 rebounds. Seven of those coming on the offensive end.
“I’m not surprised. I knew eventually it would come at some point, maybe next year. He puts the work into practice.” said Coach Cuonzo Martin. “Seeing the past couple weeks, he’s really asserted himself. He’s a defender and rebounder first, but he’s really improved his offense.”
Trae Golden was the star early in the game with 10 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds in 24 minutes of play. Skylar McBee connected on 4 of his 8 three point attempts to score 12 points. Renaldo Woolridge continued his hot streak by tossing in 10 points for the Vols.
This marked the Vols most complete outing from start to finish under Coach Cuonzo Martin. Tennessee outscored the Citadel 40 to 25 in the first half, and then continued to pour it on 46 t0 30 in the second. The Volunteers shot an impressive 56% from the field for the game while holding the Citadel to under 40%. Once again Tennessee managed to out rebound their opponents, this time by a margin of 13.
Cuonzo Martin constantly focuses on the importance of defense, and for the Vols, Thursday’s win was an exhibition in Martin’s playing style.
13 different Vols scored in the 31 point rout. The story of the night was the UT bench which scored an astounding 50 points to help Tennessee lead from start to finish.
Tennessee finished up its four game homestand against UT-Chattanooga on January 2nd. The Vols will look to win their fourth straight game on Monday night before they head to Memphis on January 4th.
“You see it in practice. The one things the guys have done, whether you have four straight losses, the guys have come back to work in practice and put forth an effort” Martin said. “Those guys are really making progress, just focusing on getting better every day, not necessarily looking at the wins and losses but trying to get better every day.”