The Vols got back in the win column with a 78-67 win over Auburn Wednesday night. Here are a few quick notes from the contest.

Offense: Josh Richardson got the Vols off to a hot start with 13 points in the first half. His final line: 15 points on 7-11 shooting with two rebounds, one assist, and four steals. When he wants to be, he’s Tennessee’s most complete player on both sides of the floor. When he’s scoring ten or more, the Vols are a dangerous team.

McRae led the Vols with 21 points, 14 coming in the second half. He was 8-12 for the line and hit some big free-throws late to seal the game. Five starters finished in double-figures (Richardson 15, McRae 21, Stokes 14, Maymon 11, Barton 11). Stokes poured in 14 points and nabbed 14 rebounds for his 9th double-double of the year. It was a nice bounce-back performance from Stokes after struggling against Texas A&M (6 points and 5 rebounds).

Tennessee still needs to show more consistent movement and energy on offense to live up to their potential. They were simply too stagnant at times. Overall, the Vols shot 51% for the game (26-51) and 76.7% (23-30) from the charity stripe. Those numbers were somewhat mitigated by 15 turnovers. McRae committed a third of Tennessee’s turnovers.

Defense: The Vols came up with several big stops late, in sharp contrast to their efforts against A&M Saturday, but had no answer for talented guard Chris Denson. He came into the game averaging 19 points and scorched the Vol defense for a game-high 24 on 10-18 shooting. Tennessee did a nice job on KT Harrell who was an inefficient 5-15 from the floor. Auburn shot 41% from the floor. It wasn’t exactly an inspired effort from Tennessee’s defense (there were multiple lapses late in the second half), but it was good enough to pick up a much-needed win.

Quotable: “I thought we did a better job both halves offensively…Jarnell did a good job shooting free-throws. We have to correct the turnover situation. We were too loose with the ball…We needed to be mentally tough and just get out there and play. But the energy and emotion wasn’t where it needed to be tonight.” – Cuonzo Martin

Final Take: It wasn’t pretty, but the Vols avoided another resume-killing loss. When Richardson is aggressive, Tennessee’s offense is much more efficient. They’ll need him to maintain his aggressive play on offense to keep building their tournament resume. They must solve their recent issue with turnovers heading into Saturday’s matchup with Kentucky or things could get ugly.

Up Next: Tennessee travels to Rupp Arena Saturday for a 12 pm matchup with No. 13 Kentucky (TV: CBS). The Wildcats are coming off an overtime loss at Arkansas.