Tennessee basketball: Three takeaways from Vols’ sluggish win vs. Vanderbilt

It looked pretty at first. Tennessee basketball dominated the Vanderbilt Commodores in the first half, heading into the locker room with a 44-32 lead. That lead extended to 50-34 early in the second half. However, Vandy then went on an 11-0 run and then kept up the fight, drawing to within two with five minutes to go.

Up 61-59, though, Rick Barnes’ team, ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll and No. 18 in the Coaches Poll, then went on an 8-0 run. That allowed them to pull away and win an ugly 73-64 game to sweep Jerry Stackhouse’s team and push their SEC winning streak to seven games.

UT remains undefeated at home this year and improves to 18-6 overall and 9-3 in the SEC with a visit from the Kentucky Wildcats set for Tuesday. Vanderbilt falls to 13-11 and 5-7 in the SEC with a trip to the Auburn Tigers set for Wednesday. Here are three things we learned from Tennessee basketball’s victory Saturday.

1. Offensive rebounds were the biggest difference.

Vanderbilt shot a higher percentage from the field and from three and only had four more turnovers. So what was the difference? UT dominated on the boards with 15 offensive rebounds, which allowed them to win the battle on the glass 41-31. They had 13 second -chance points in the first half alone.

Josiah-Jordan James was 1-of-7 from three but had four offensive rebounds and went 9-of-10 from the stripe, finishing with 14 points and 10 boards. John Fulkerson had two offensive rebounds, racking up 12 points and six boards. Justin Powell had an off-night shooting but had six boards, three on offense. Fulky and James had two blocks each, so they just owned the paint.

2. Foul trouble caused problems in the second half.

Yes, Tennessee basketball was sluggish in the second half and got too comfortable with its lead. However, a huge issue was foul trouble. Although Vanderbilt fouled more throughout the game, the Vols’ key players had issues. Kennedy Chandler and Santiago Vescovi, to be exact, had to spend lots of time on the bench.

Chandler was having an off-night altogether, as he was 0-of-2 from three, 0-of-2 from the free throw line, had four turnovers and scored six points. However, having four fouls didn’t make it easier on him to try to get in a rhythm. Vescovi also had four fouls, and he was actually himself in the game, so that was a problem, but it leads to our final point.

3. Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler stepped up from three.

Despite James, Chandler and Powell all struggling from the outside, the Vols still went 7-of-22 from the three-point line. That was due to Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler. Even with foul trouble, Vescovi was 3-of-6 from outside en route to 10 points. Zeigler, meanwhile, had to step in for Chandler and went 3-of-5 from outside while leading the team in scoring with 16 points.

The shooting and second-chance points allowed Tennessee basketball to rack up 16 assists. Zeigler had five, and Fulkerson had three. Powell and Chandler each had two. We should also note the defense, as Zeigler also had two steals and a block.