University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
9-4,1-0
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Mississippi State
7-7,0-1
Vols Win Fifth In Row, 61-47, At MSU
January 07, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2015
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STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Tennessee opened SEC play with its fifth victory in a row overall as the Vols beat Mississippi State, 61-47, on Wednesday night at The Hump. The Volunteers improved to 9-4 overall and 1-0 in the SEC. The Bulldogs are now 7-7 and 0-1 in the leagues they have lost 14 consecutive regular-season conference games.
A familiar formula of potent 3-point shooting and stifling defense carried the Vols to another victory, Donnie Tyndall's first SEC victory and first in a road game as head coach at UT.
Kevin Punter led Tennessee with 15 points before fouling out. The Vols were mired in foul trouble all night as Josh Richardson tallied 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds after picking up three early fouls. Devon Baulkman added 10 points and six rebounds.
Armani Moore and Willie Carmichael fouled out without scoring.
Tennessee connected on 10-of-20 from beyond the arc while holding Mississippi State to just 30.6 percent from the floor. The Bulldogs made one 3-pointer in the game, shooing 1-of-9.
The Vols also benefitted from poor free throw shooting by Mississippi State as the Bulldogs were 24-of-44 at the charity stripe for 54.4 percent.
Up three at halftime, Tennessee's defense was stout in the second half as Mississippi State started the half 1-of-10. The Vols kept MSU without a field goal for more than 11 minutes as the Orange & White continued to add to their lead. Tennessee scored 22 of the first 29 points in the second half to lead 48-30 with 8:59 left.
The Bulldogs were able to get as close as eight in the final minutes. Punter's second 3-pointer of the game put the Vols up by 15 at 53-38 with 5:45 remaining. The Bulldogs reeled off the next seven points in row to get within 53-45 with two minutes left.
Derek Reese (eight points and career-high tying 10 rebounds) nailed an off-balance 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring at 1:47 to seal the win.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Detrick Mostella in a span of eight seconds put the Vols up 38-27 with 13 minutes left in the game.
The Vols led 26-23 at intermission behind 10 points from Baulkman, who hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the half.
Tennessee jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the game's first five minutes as the Vols forced the Bulldogs into six early turnovers. Ware's jumper broke State's scoreless start with 5:05 elapsed.
Mississippi State responded with its own 12-0 run as the Vols were held scoreless for a span of 9:26 before Baulkman made two free throws with 5:45 left in the half. The Vols did not make a field goal for a span of more than 12 minutes before Robert Hubbs III canned a 3-pointer with 2:54 left in the half.
It was the seventh time this season, the Vols held an opponent to fewer than 60 points and second time in the last three games the foe scored less than 50.
The Vols return to action on Saturday as Tennessee hosts Alabama in their SEC home opener at Thompson-Boling Arena at 2 p.m. That game airs on the SEC Network and can be heard on the Vol Network.
