Tennessee basketball: Vols extend their winning streak to 15 with win over South Carolina

The Tennessee basketball team extended their winning streak to 15 games with the win over South Carolina. Here are three takeaways from the game.

The Tennessee basketball ties the longest winning streak in program history that dates back to the 1915-17 seasons. It’s amazing to see just how far these program and players have come in just a few short years.

However, this game had the makings of being trouble for Tennessee. Jordan Bowden who is averaging around 11 points per game and was unable to go due to injuring his knee in warm-ups.

The Gamecocks fans created a hostile environment, making it hard of the Vols to get going offensively.

And, then there was Chris Silva, more on him later, who helped keep the Gamecocks in the first half thanks to his 22 points.

But, the second half was all Tennessee. Here are three takeaways from the game.

1. Chris Silva went toe-to-toe with Grant Williams

At one point during the game, I honestly thought Chris Silva was going to score 50 points; I’m not even kidding about that. He got whatever he wanted offensively in the first half scoring 22 of South Carolina’s 38 points.

However, to be fair Kyle Alexander spent most of the first half on the bench, so Silva drew defense from Fulkerson and Walker. There were also a couple of questionable scores where Silva may or may not have walked. Someone should go was the replays on a few scores.

Silva finished the game with 28 points on 7-for-13 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from deep. For the majority of the game, Silva was able to stay out of foul trouble to keep the Gamecocks in it.

2. Grant Williams was better than anyone on the court

If you ever questioned if Grant Williams was the best player in the SEC, you got your answer. He didn’t score 43 as he did against Vanderbilt, but Williams had another outstanding game. The should-be SEC Player of the Year finished with 23 points on 9-for-15 from the floor including eight rebounds and four steals.

Williams is averaging 28 points in the previous three games which included his performance against Vanderbilt. If the season ended today, no doubt Williams wins SEC Player of the Year.

3. Jordan Bone is one of the best point guards in the nation

Before the game, we predicted Jordan Bone would finish with a double-double. Although we were wrong Bone played an outstanding game and was only one assist shy of a double-double.

Once again Bone controlled the game dishing out nine assists with only three turnovers, which one was on an alley-oop where neither player was on the same page.

The Vols are back in action on Saturday night when they travel to College Station to take on the Texas A&M Aggies.