KNOXVILLE— Nothing comes easy for these Vols, and Tuesday’s win over a down Vanderbilt team was no different. Tennessee built several large leads but couldn’t keep the pesky Commodores at bay. In Tennessee’s last two home games, the Vols have won by two combined points.

Tennessee opened the game on a 12-0 run and led by as many as 14. Vanderbilt fought back and gained a 23-22 lead, but a McBee 3 (10 points) just before half gave the Vols a 27-23 lead at the break. Every time the Vols threatened to put the game away, Vanderbilt clawed back in it. McBee put the Vols ahead 58-54 with the first of two free throws, but he missed the second. The Commodores’ Kedren Johnson made his first of two at the line, but James Siakim tipped Johnson’s miss on his second attempt to cut the lead to 58-57. McRae missed the front end of a one-and-one and Vanderbilt had multiple attempts to win it late. A Commodore driving layup missed and an attempted putback fell short as the Vols escaped with the 58-57 win over rival Vanderbilt.

Jarnell Stokes scored 19 points and grabbed 11 boards.
Photo by Randy Sartin

Offense: Jarnell Stokes played his second straight dominate game. The sophomore forward tallied 19 points and 11 rebounds to give him his sixth double-double of the year. Stokes was aggressive once again, and got good looks at the hoop. He finished the night 8-12 from the floor, and his eight made field goals tied his season-high. Stokes has grabbed a double-double in three of his last four games, but has struggled on the road this year (averaging just 5 points per game in road games). He’ll have to continue to play well at Arkansas Saturday for the Vols to pick up their first road win of the season.

Tennessee guard Trae Golden exited the game with a hamstring injury, and is unlikely to play Saturday. He went scoreless from the field (0-3) before his injury. Though Golden hasn’t been playing well, they need him healthy to make a tournament run. Tennessee is expected to have details on his injury Thursday. Vol guard Jordan McRae had his worst game in SEC play, and finished with just seven points on 2-10 shooting. On the bright side for the Vols, Skylar McBee played his best game in ages. He finished with 10 points on 3-5 shooting beyond the arc. With Golden’s injury, Tennessee needs McBee to step up
now more than ever.

The Vols shot 42% for the game.

Defense: The Vols held Vanderbilt’s leading scorer, Kedren Johnson, to 14 points on 4-13 shooting, but had no answer for 6-11 center Josh Henderson. He came into the game averaging just 4.6 points per contest, but scored 13 against a soft Vol defense. Tennessee outrebounded the Commodores by just two (33-31), but did manage seven blocks. It wasn’t a bad performance for the Vols, but they struggled to get stops late and Vanderbilt had several good looks at the basket with the game on the line.

Vanderbilt shot 42.9% on the night.

Final Take: Tennessee should have won this game by double-digits, but couldn’t put Vanderbilt away. This team hasn’t shown an ability to close, even in wins, and that will have to change if the Vols want to play in any postseason tournament. Stokes said it best, “It feels good to win the game. But we played in spurts, and I don’t think we can keep doing that if we want to go where we want to go.”

Up Next: The Vols play at Arkansas Saturday at 4 p.m. TV: ESPN