The Tennessee hoops team continued its winning ways this evening with a solid 77-70 win over ACC foe Georgia Tech. Three players — Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield, and Jordan Bowden — were all in double figures in points, and Kyle Alexander led the way on the boards with 11.
Tennessee seemed to have control of the game, but things got a bit dicey about midway through the second half when fouls relegated Williams, Schofield, and Alexander to the bench for extended minutes. Williams and Alexander both ended up fouling out, Wiliams with 2:57 remaining and Alexander with 1:21 left in the game. At that point, the situation was dire, as the team was scheming around the big men to take the advantage and now both of them were done.
But head coach Rick Barnes then just put the game in the hands of his guards, who drove the rest of the way home. The team was up 64-57 when Alexander left for good, and Bowden and Lamonte Turner hit 11 of their next 13 free throws as the Yellow Jackets had to resort to fouling in an attempt to catch up.
The Vols are now 6-1 with their only loss coming against No 4 Villanova. They have wins over then No. 18 Purdue and NC State, teams with a combined record of 15-4. Tennessee moves up to an RPI of 14, according to RPIForecast.com. KenPom has the Vols at No. 24 but has not yet updated with the result of today’s game.
Tennessee is off until next Saturday, when they take on Lipscomb. After that, it’s at home against North Carolina, currently ranked No. 13 with an RPI of 7 and a KenPom of 9.