University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
5-4
Tennessee Tech
6-5
3-Point Plays Key Vols 61-58 Win Over TTU
December 19, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2014
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Vols opened a four-game holiday homestand with a 61-58 victory over Tennessee Tech on Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols improved to 5-4 while Tech fell to 6-5.
Tennessee is now 4-0 at home and 4-0 when holding opponents to less than 60 points this season.
The Vols rallied from a halftime deficit to win for the third time in nine games this season.
The game was tight throughout with 10 lead changes and seven ties.
Josh Richardson topped the Vols scoring chart for the eighth time in nine games with 19 points. Devon Baulkman scored 10 points for the second game in a row. Kevin Punter scored eight points, six in the second half to aid the Vols' comeback.
For Tennessee Tech, Torrance Rowe tallied 12 points of his 14 points in the first half while Josiah Moore scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. Dwan Jackson had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Down by six at halftime, Tennessee rallied to retake a lead with about nine minutes left. The game was within four points for more than 12 minutes until a Baulkman 3-point play put Tennessee ahead 58-51 with 54.7 remaining. That was UT's second 3-point play in less than a minute and proved to be the back-breaker for TTU.
Willie Carmichael's steal with 1:25 led to Baulkman's and-1, which put the game out of reach for the Golden Eagles.
TTU's Josiah Moore's 3-pointer with 2:12 remaining cut the Vols' lead to 52-51. Tennessee's Armani Moore answered with the 3-point play 20 seconds later to regain the 4-point lead for the Vols at 55-51.
Richardson scored six consecutive points to put the Vols up 50-46 with six minutes remaining. After TTU's Moore scored to end the spurt, Kevin Punter hit a short jumper to put the Vols up 52-48 with 3:54 left.
Derek Reese tied the game at 42 on a 3-pointer with 10:29 left in the second half. It was the first time the game was tied in more than 13 minutes. Willie Carmichael's dunk with nine minutes remaining put the Vols ahead (44-43) for the first time since 3:33 left in the first half.
The Vols held Tennessee Tech to just 37.0 from the floor in the second half.
Ian Chiles, who had played one minute in the first eight games of the season, drew a season-half start and scored his first points with the Vols 20 seconds into the half. He finished with those two points in five minutes.
Tech closed the first half on a 9-0 run to lead 32-26 at intermission. Rowe was perfect from the floor making all four of his 3-point attempts and led all scorers with 12 points in the first half. The Golden Eagles shot 56.5 from the floor in the stanza, making 5-of-8 3-pointers.
Richardson had eight of his points in the first half for the Vols.
The Vols, who came into the game 343rd in the nation (out of 345 teams) in fouls committed per game (24.6) committed just nine vs. Tennessee Tech. The Vols opened each half with more than 10 minutes of action without a foul. The Golden Eagles were never in the bonus all night.
The Vols continue their homestand on Monday as Mercer comes to Thompson-Boling Arena for a rematch of last season's NCAA Tournament matchup. The Vols and Bears tip at 7 p.m., in a game that airs on the SEC Network and can be heard on the Vol Network.
