Saturday, January 26
Knoxville, Tenn.
4:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
9-11, 1-6Big 12
66
at
83
Tennessee
18-1, 6-0SEC
1
2
F
West Virginia
21
45
66
Tennessee
31
52
83
Photo by: AP
Top-Ranked Volunteers Too Much for WVU
January 26, 2019 07:30 PM | Men's Basketball
Top-ranked Tennessee used a 25-2 run over the remaining nine minutes of the first half on the way to an 83-66 victory over West Virginia in a Saturday afternoon SEC/Big 12 challenge game at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The Mountaineers jumped out to an early 8-2 lead and led the Volunteers 19-7 after a Beetle Bolden 3 with 11:05 remaining in the first half. It was the fifth 3 out of eight attempts for the Mountaieers up to that point in the game.
But the next 10 minutes saw West Virginia score just two points, those coming on a Derek Culver jumper with 1:34, as Tennessee built its halftime lead to 31-21.
"We got big-boyed," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said afterward on his postgame radio show. "They came out and they were really, really physical with us and we didn't respond."
West Virginia missed 14 of its 15 shot attempts during its long scoreless drought.
"All of a sudden they started throwing it close and backing us in …," Huggins said. "They shot layups and we got out of the way."
Tennessee's biggest lead was 21, 60-39, with 9:21 remaining in the game.
Lamonte Turner scored a game-high 23 points to lead the No. 1 ranked Vols.
Grant Williams, coming off a 43-point performance earlier this week at Vanderbilt, contributed 19 while Admiral Schofield added 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for Tennessee.
"They're good. That's a heck of a team and they deserve everything they've got," Huggins said. "They're extremely well-coached. They're a veteran group and they've got a lot of things going for them."
West Virginia, now 9-11, got 16 points and seven rebounds from Esa Ahmad and 15 points and six rebounds off the bench from Derek Culver.
"Derek has the physical ability to be special," Huggins said. "He's got really good hands and he ought to be one of the better rebounders in the country but you don't do that standing and waiting for the ball to bounce to you.
"We will get better and better but you can't drop your guard," Huggins said. "We do that constantly. We drop our guard and they jump on us and suddenly go from being in the lead to being tied or being behind because we don't play hard consistently."
Tennessee (18-1) shot 47.5 percent and out-scored West Virginia 40-26 in the paint while the Mountaineers committed 24 turnovers, the sixth time this season they have committed 20 or more turnovers in a game.
"Obviously I've lost a whole lot of games in my career, but I've always felt like our guys fought," Huggins said. "Our guys don't fight. Dive on the floor. Take a charge. Block a guy out. Go get a second shot. We stand and watch. It's hard to take."
Bolden, who finished with three points, was helped from the floor with 15:40 left in the game after landing awkwardly to the ground on his ankle.
"He's got an ice bag on," Huggins said. "He hurt it the other day in practice and he's so beat up it's ridiculous. He's got a hip-pointer, he (injured) his shooting shoulder, he's sprained an ankle and he's had wrist problems. He's just beat up."
The Mountaineers drop to 1-5 in SEC/Big 12 Challenge games and are now 5-9 all-time against college basketball's No. 1-ranked team.
Tennessee, now 4-5 against West Virginia, has won 14 straight games. A season-high 22,149 attended today's game.
"We competed for a little bit then quit," Huggins.
Before tonight's Kansas-Kentucky and Texas Tech-Arkansas games, the Big 12 was 5-3 against the SEC in today's challenge with Iowa State (Ole Miss), Baylor (Alabama), TCU (Florida), Oklahoma State (South Carolina) and Oklahoma (Vanderbilt) winning, and Kansas State (Texas A&M), Texas (Georgia) and West Virginia losing.
The Mountaineers resume Big 12 play on Wednesday night at Iowa State.
The Mountaineers jumped out to an early 8-2 lead and led the Volunteers 19-7 after a Beetle Bolden 3 with 11:05 remaining in the first half. It was the fifth 3 out of eight attempts for the Mountaieers up to that point in the game.
But the next 10 minutes saw West Virginia score just two points, those coming on a Derek Culver jumper with 1:34, as Tennessee built its halftime lead to 31-21.
"We got big-boyed," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said afterward on his postgame radio show. "They came out and they were really, really physical with us and we didn't respond."
West Virginia missed 14 of its 15 shot attempts during its long scoreless drought.
"All of a sudden they started throwing it close and backing us in …," Huggins said. "They shot layups and we got out of the way."
Tennessee's biggest lead was 21, 60-39, with 9:21 remaining in the game.
Lamonte Turner scored a game-high 23 points to lead the No. 1 ranked Vols.
Grant Williams, coming off a 43-point performance earlier this week at Vanderbilt, contributed 19 while Admiral Schofield added 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for Tennessee.
"They're good. That's a heck of a team and they deserve everything they've got," Huggins said. "They're extremely well-coached. They're a veteran group and they've got a lot of things going for them."
West Virginia, now 9-11, got 16 points and seven rebounds from Esa Ahmad and 15 points and six rebounds off the bench from Derek Culver.
"Derek has the physical ability to be special," Huggins said. "He's got really good hands and he ought to be one of the better rebounders in the country but you don't do that standing and waiting for the ball to bounce to you.
"We will get better and better but you can't drop your guard," Huggins said. "We do that constantly. We drop our guard and they jump on us and suddenly go from being in the lead to being tied or being behind because we don't play hard consistently."
Tennessee (18-1) shot 47.5 percent and out-scored West Virginia 40-26 in the paint while the Mountaineers committed 24 turnovers, the sixth time this season they have committed 20 or more turnovers in a game.
"Obviously I've lost a whole lot of games in my career, but I've always felt like our guys fought," Huggins said. "Our guys don't fight. Dive on the floor. Take a charge. Block a guy out. Go get a second shot. We stand and watch. It's hard to take."
Bolden, who finished with three points, was helped from the floor with 15:40 left in the game after landing awkwardly to the ground on his ankle.
"He's got an ice bag on," Huggins said. "He hurt it the other day in practice and he's so beat up it's ridiculous. He's got a hip-pointer, he (injured) his shooting shoulder, he's sprained an ankle and he's had wrist problems. He's just beat up."
The Mountaineers drop to 1-5 in SEC/Big 12 Challenge games and are now 5-9 all-time against college basketball's No. 1-ranked team.
Tennessee, now 4-5 against West Virginia, has won 14 straight games. A season-high 22,149 attended today's game.
"We competed for a little bit then quit," Huggins.
Before tonight's Kansas-Kentucky and Texas Tech-Arkansas games, the Big 12 was 5-3 against the SEC in today's challenge with Iowa State (Ole Miss), Baylor (Alabama), TCU (Florida), Oklahoma State (South Carolina) and Oklahoma (Vanderbilt) winning, and Kansas State (Texas A&M), Texas (Georgia) and West Virginia losing.
The Mountaineers resume Big 12 play on Wednesday night at Iowa State.
Team Stats
WVU
UT
FG%
.436
.475
3FG%
.381
.375
FT%
.556
.731
RB
37
33
TO
24
16
STL
9
10
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
F
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