Jordan McRae didn’t score from the field until the 3:30 mark in the second half, yet his lone bucket of the afternoon, a 3 from the corner, gave the Vols a 58-57 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. McBee followed McRae’s 3 with one of his own, and the Vols converted their free throws down the stretch to pick up their first road win of the year.

At the half, Tennessee led 32-29. Stokes had 12 points and three rebounds, but the Vols turned the ball over eight times. McRae finished the first period of play with zero points on 0-3 shooting, while Golden tallied 4 points on 1-3 shooting in his return. The Vols opened the second half by turning the ball over on four of their first six possessions, but pulled things together when it mattered.

McRae’s lone 3 gave the Vols a 58-57 lead.
Photo by Reed Carringer

Offense: Jarnell Stokes is playing up to his 5-star billing. On the afternoon, Stokes scored 20 points (6-9 shooting) and grabbed 10 rebounds; good for his fifth consecutive double-double. Perhaps more impressive was the performance of Trae Golden in his return from a hamstring injury. At the midway mark in the season Golden was Tennessee’s leading scorer; he looked much more like that player than the one who has been relegated to the bench of late. He finished the game with 16 points in 27 minutes of action. If the Vols have any hope of stringing together several wins, they need Golden to be as effective as he was against the Gamecocks. Though the Vols committed 18 turnovers, just two came from the Tennessee point guard.

Stokes and Golden were the only Vols in double figures. McBee (8 points), Richardson (7 points), and McRae (7 points), were the other scorers of note.

The Vols shot 43.9% from the field, 21.4% from 3, and 73% from the charity stripe.

Defense: Cuonzo did some experimenting on the defensive end of the floor. Tennessee switched to a scarcely used zone defense at one point in the game, and even tried a full-court press. Vol forward Josh Richardson did a great job of containing South Carolina’s Bruce Ellington, who scored a paltry six points of 1-9 shooting. More importantly, Tennessee finally managed to get stops late in a game.

The Vols outrebounded the Gamecocks 32-30, while South Carolina shot 39.2% on the night, 18.8% from 3, and 72% from the free throw line.

Final Take: Cuonzo Martin summed it up best, “To battle on that emotional roller coaster, trying to get road wins and losing tough games, to finally get a road win feels good.” We’ll see if the Vols can build on it moving forward when they travel to Vanderbilt.

Up Next: Tennessee at Vanderbilt Wednesday at 8 p.m. TV: SEC Network.