After being undoubtedly outplayed in the first half, the Tennessee Vols battled, grinded, and rallied in the second half to beat #15 Butler 67-55. Early in the second half, the Vols found themselves down 37-25. Josh Richardson and Kevin Punter then led the charge with a combined 30 points in the second half.
Down 12, Tennessee amped up the defensive pressure and created some offense that wasn’t there in the 1st half. Butler held a 24-12 rebounding edge in the first half, including 10 offensive rebounds. However, Tennessee responded in the second half, outrebound the Bulldogs 20-14.
Leading the Vols in scoring was Josh Richardson with 20 points and Kevin Punter with 18 points. Kellen Dunham led Butler with 16 points. The Vols improve to 4-3 on the season and will travel to Raleigh, NC on Wednesday to take on NC State. Butler falls to 8-2 and will face Indiana next Saturday.