A stellar offensive performance complemented by stifling defense vaulted No. 8 Tennessee to a dominant rout of Mississippi State, 87-53, in the Vols’ SEC home-opener Tuesday night in Thompson-Boling Arena.
Tennessee (12-2, 2-0 SEC) recorded the fourth-highest field-goal percentage in program history Tuesday, shooting 69.2 percent in the 34-point triumph—the largest margin of victory in the history of the 133-game series. The Vols connected on 76 percent of their field-goal attempts in the second half.
Mississippi State (11-3, 0-2 SEC) entered Tuesday’s contest ranking seventh in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.366) and fourth in scoring defense (54.5 ppg).
SEC Sixth Man of the Year candidate Zakai Zeigler’s first career double-double also featured a career-best single-game assist total, as the sophomore registered 11 points and 10 rebounds on the night. Santiago Vescovi sparked Tennessee’s offense early, logging 14 first-half points after burying four 3-pointers in the opening stanza. Vescovi has scored at least 14 points in each of UT’s past three games, shooting .600 (12-20) from beyond the arc in that span.
True freshman Julian Phillips was efficient, tallying 11 points of 5-of-6 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. Fellow frosh Tobe Awaka continued his impressive rebounding trend, bringing down six boards while adding nine points on a 4-of-5 shooting effort.
Senior big men Uros Plavsic and Olivier Nkamhoua mirrored shooting performances, each going 5-of-5 from the field. Josiah-Jordan James recorded an eight-point night with four assists in his return to action following an extended absence due to knee soreness.
Mississippi State was led by Tyler Stevenson’s 15-point effort. Collectively, the Bulldogs were limited to a .396 clip from the field, making just over 22 percent of their 3-point attempts. Five Vols reached double-figure scoring in the win, with Tennessee turning defense to offense by accumulating 20 points off 12 Mississippi State turnovers.
With the victory, Tennessee extended its home win streak to 24 games. Eleven of those wins have come against SEC opponents. The Vols have won eight of the last nine meetings overall against the Bulldogs, including four straight at home.
Tennessee’s red-hot start offensively featured three made triples from Vescovi. Four Vols scored prior to the first media timeout, as the Vols raced to a 16-0 advantage within the game’s opening five minutes.
Tennessee made seven of its first 10 shots, including a 4-of-5 start from beyond the arc. As the midway point of the first half neared, Nkamhoua scored four points on a quick 6-0 UT spurt as the Vols pushed their lead to 24-8.
A made James dunk off a fast-break assist from Zeigler extended Tennessee’s first-half lead to 40-14 with just under three minutes remaining before halftime.
Tennessee ended the opening half on a 16-8 run after shooting a tick over 64 percent (9-of-14) from 3-point land. Mississippi State’s seven first-half field goal makes were overshadowed by Tennessee’s 17.
Tennessee’s largest lead came at the 8:38 mark of the second half, as it stretched its advantage to 36 points at 75-39 with a James triple. Mississippi State was unsuccessful on all but one of its free throws in the second half, going 1-of-9 in the final 20 minutes.
The Vols’ first-half point total of 46 was nearly matched in the second frame, with Tennessee registering 41 points after halftime and missing just six of 25 field-goal attempts in the second half
UP NEXT: Tennessee is back on the road this weekend—traveling to take on South Carolina Saturday in Columbia. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
DEFENDING TBA: Tennessee extended its home win streak to 24 games with Tuesday’s victory—a streak that dates to March 7, 2021. The Vols’ current home win streak is the sixth-longest in program history. Tennessee has also won 11 straight home games against conference opponents.
FIRST HALF DOMINANCE: Tennessee went into halftime possessing a 24-point lead at 46-22. It marked the Vols’ largest halftime lead over an SEC opponent since Jan. 5, 2019, when Tennessee led Georgia by 29 points at half and went on to win, 96-50.
POINTS/ASSISTS DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR ZEIGLER: With his 11-point, 10-assist double-double during the win, Zakai Zeigler became the 15th Vol in program history to record a points/assists double-double and the fourth in the Rick Barnes era—joining Jordan Bone, Lamonte Turner and Kennedy Chandler.
VESCOVI HEATING UP: Over the course of the season’s first 11 games, Santiago Vescovi was 22-of-79 (.278) from 3-point range. In Tennessee’s last three games, Vescovi is 12-of-20 from beyond the arc and averaging 18.0 ppg.
RUNNING AWAY WITH IT: Tennessee kickstarted Tuesday’s game on a 16-0 scoring run and tallied an additional 10-0 run later in the first half. The Vols have now recorded 18 runs of 10-0 or better this season, which ranks second in the nation.
