Tennessee Volunteers Defeat South Carolina Gamecocks 66-61
By Zach Ragan
Tennessee won their first game on the road in nearly a year as they defeated South Carolina in Columbia 66-61.
Trae Golden returned to the lineup for the Volunteers and came up with some crucial baskets down the stretch, at one point scoring six in a row. Golden had 16 points coming off the bench.
Jordan McRae hit a key three pointer to put Tennessee up 58-57 with just over three minutes remaining. The Vols would not relinquish the lead from there. Guard Skyler McBee also hit a couple of big three pointers in the win.
Jarnell Stokes continued his strong play and had his fifth double-double in a row, leading the team in scoring with 20 points and securing 10 rebounds.
The Vols got a scare when McRae rolled his ankle right before halftime. McRae went to the locker room but returned to the lineup when the Vols came out for the second half. McRae took over the point guard duties last month after Golden’s turnover troubles.
Tennessee held South Carolina to 39% shooting from the field on the day. The Volunteers shot 44% from the field.
Despite the win Tennessee’s turnover troubles continued with 18 on the day, including six from Stokes.
Tennessee improves to 4-6 in SEC play, and 12-10 overall. South Carolina falls to 2-8 in the conference and 12-11 overall. Tennessee will head to Nashville on Wednesday to take on Vanderbilt. The Vols won a closely contested game against the Commodores on January 29th in Knoxville, by a score of 58-57. Vanderbilt broke a four game losing against Arkansas on Saturday, 67-49, and will be looking to improve on their 3-7 conference record (9-13 overall).
The game is scheduled to tip off at 8:00 pm EST on Wednesday night.