Balanced scoring and a tenacious defensive effort helped 13th-ranked Tennessee overwhelm Alcorn State 94-40 Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn.
Six players finished in double figures including Olivier Nkamhoua, who dominated to the tune of 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. He also dished out six assists and was 7-for-7 from the line as the Vols (7-1) won their sixth consecutive game.
Julian Phillips poured in 18 points while Uros Plavsic made all six of his shots from the field on his way to 12 points.
Jahmai Mashack racked up 13 points to go along with seven rebounds and four steals in his first career start for Tennessee, which made 33 field goals off 27 assists. Tyreke Key chipped in 11 points and Zakai Zeigler scored 10.
Alcorn State (3-6) dropped its third in a row and got a team-best 10 points from Dominic Brewton.
The Vols dominated from the jump and had their first double-digit lead of the night with 14 minutes left in the half after Key knocked down his second 3-pointer for a 14-4 advantage. Those points were part of an 11-0 run for the Vols.
Tennessee held the Braves scoreless for nearly six minutes in the first half. During that time, Alcorn State missed five 3-point attempts.
The scoring drought didn’t end until the 11:24 mark of the first half when Darryl Jordan made two free throws to cut the Tennessee lead to 18-6.
Devin Carter’s layup midway through the opening half ended a stretch of nearly seven minutes without a field goal.
Key buried three shots from beyond the arc to help fuel the first-half surge for the Vols, who led 49-22 at the half and shot 52.4 percent from the field in the win.
The only blemishes for Tennessee in the first 20 minutes were the six missed shots on seven attempts from the field in the final 2:42 of the half.
Alcorn State missed all nine of its shots from 3-point range in the first half and was 1-for-16 in the game. The Braves shot just 27.1 percent from the floor and turned the ball over 22 times.
–Field Level Media
