This was one of the most entertaining wins of the post-Pearl era.
Rick Barnes had the Vols sell out to stop Vanderbilt at the three point line. It was relatively successful: the Commodores still shot 42.9% from the arc, but attempted only 14 of them. The easier path to success was to go to the hole against Tennessee’s overly-aggressive perimeter defense, and by proxy to the free throw line: Vanderbilt was 17-of-21 (81%) from the stripe. They shot 53.1% from the floor and turned it over only nine times.
And tonight, in Memorial Gym, Tennessee’s young team was simply better.