KNOXVILLE— The Vols picked up their first SEC win of the year and ended a four game losing streak in the process. Tennessee took an 18-16 lead on a Jarnell Stokes dunk with 10:52 to play in the first half and never trailed after Stokes’ jam. At the half, the Vols were shooting 52% and led 37-29. In losses to Alabama and Kentucky, forward Jordan McRae was the only Vol to score in double-figures. At halftime today, two Vols were in double-figures: McRae (10 points) and Josh Richardson (11 points).

McRae jams it for 2 of his 12 points.
Photo by Reed Carringer

Mississippi State cut the Tennessee lead to four with 17:29 to play before a McBee 3 made it a 42-35 Vol lead. The visitors never seriously threatened the rest of the contest as Tennessee picked up a vital 72-57 win.

Fulton graduate Jalen Steele led Mississippi State with 15 points. Steele had 13 points in the first half but was forced to sit most of the second half due to leg cramps. In a total class act, Vol head coach Cuonzo Martin opened his postgame press conference by congratulating Steele on his performance.

“Before we get started, I just wanted to really congratulate Jalen Steele, a kid who came back, a local kid who played well. I thought he played well and I just wanted to acknowledge the fact that he did a great job coming home,” Martin said.

Jarnell Stokes finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead four Vols in double-figures. Vol point guard Trae Golden put in his best effort in weeks, scoring 10 points and dishing out a season-high nine assists. Josh Richardson scored 16 points on 6-9 shooting while Jordan McRae finished with 12 points on 5-12 shooting.

Cuonzo was pleased with his team’s performance and was clearly glad to see Stokes and Golden get back on track.

“Jarnell and Trae Golden played well, which is good to see. When those two guys play well, we’ve got a chance. When those guys are playing at the level they’re capable of playing, I think everything kind of falls around them. When they don’t play the way at the level we need them to play at, then all of a sudden it’s a scramble and we’re trying to plug our pieces to make a move, ” Martin said. “I think we had a season-high 19 assists, which was great distributing the ball and Trae made a lot of that happen.”

Two Vol freshmen also played well. Forward Derek Reese made three big 3’s in just 12 minutes of play (9 points on 3-5 shooting) and guard Armani Moore scored four points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds to go along with four assists, three steals, and one block.

Martin was quick to praise his freshman after the victory.

“Armani Moore played a really good game with 11 rebounds and eight at the half. He just does a good job pounding the ball, making good decisions – a physical guard and I thought he played really well. Derek came off the bench and shot the ball great. He can make shots, so he’s a threat.”

When the Vols are scoring from every position they are a dangerous team. The Vols are 1-3 in SEC play…exactly where they stood last year. Tennessee closed the last 12 games with a 9-3 record a year ago and will have to do something similar to earn an NCAA Tournament bid this March.

For a full gallery of images of today’s game, click here.

Up Next: Tennessee (9-7) faces a rough road test at Ole Miss (15-2), Thursday at 7 p.m. TV: ESPN2