KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team concluded the calendar year by defeating Tarleton State, 65-46, Thursday night at Food City Center.
Junior guard Zakai Zeigler paced No. 8/7 Tennessee (9-3) with a game-high 13 points in a contest it trailed for just 35 seconds on its way to completing a perfect record in December.
Tarleton State (8-4, 2-0 WAC) scored 12 of the first 22 points in the opening nine minutes, but the Volunteers quickly answered to take control of the game. They went on a 15-2 run—including both a trio of 3-pointers and four straight made field goals—in under five minutes to go ahead by 11, 25-14, with 6:03 left on the first-half clock.
Tennessee built a 14-point edge, 39-25, by the time the halftime horn sounded, as it scored the last seven points of the session. The home team shot 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from the field in opening session, including 54.5 percent (6-of-11) beyond the arc, while holding the Texans to 33.3 percent (9-of-27) and 14.3 percent (1-of-7) respective clips at the other end.
Neither team scored in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second frame, as Tennessee missed its first six field goals and Tarleton missed its first five. After a basket by the Texans, fifth-year guard Santiago Vescovi hit a 3-pointer with 16:12 left to give the Volunteers a then-game-best 15-point edge, 42-27, with 16:12 to go.
Tarleton State chipped away from there and trimmed the deficit to six multiple times, including to 50-44 with 5:45 remaining. The Volunteers, though, responded shortly thereafter with eight straight points in just 84 seconds to grab a 14-point cushion, 58-44, with 3:03 to go.
That surge sparked a 15-2 run to end the affair, as Tennessee finished the night with a game-high 19-point lead, 65-46. The Volunteers went 9-of-10 from the free-throw line over the final three-and-a-half minutes, as Zeigler made all four of his attempts and sophomore forward Tobe Awaka went 5-of-6.
Zeigler’s 13 points came on a 4-of-8 mark from the field and he added a co-game-best five assists with just one turnover. Vescovi scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds and matched Zeigler’s assist total to tie his season best.
Fifth-year guard Josiah-Jordan James totaled 10 points and a game-leading 10 rebounds to notch his second double-double of the season. Awaka, meanwhile, registered a career-best five blocks to equal the total of every other player in the game…
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