Josiah-Jordan James and Kennedy Chandler scored 18 points each as No. 19 Tennessee held off Mississippi State 72-63 in Southeastern Conference play Wednesday night in Starkville, Miss.
Santiago Vescovi added 11 points, including a key late 3-pointer, for the Volunteers (17-6, 8-3 SEC), who won for the sixth time in their past seven outings. Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler also had 11 points.
Iverson Molinar, the SEC’s No. 3 scorer with an 18.2 average entering the night, led the Bulldogs (14-9, 5-5) with 16 points.
Mississippi State’s Garrison Brooks was in double figures for a third consecutive game with 15 points, and he added a game-high eight rebounds. D.J. Jeffries added 13 for Mississippi State, which took its fifth loss in the past seven games.
Up by only two points at the half, Tennessee led for most of the second half but wasn’t on top for good until Chandler’s layup with 3:55 remaining broke a 61-61 tie.
Tennessee upped its lead to 66-61 on Vescovi’s 3-pointer with 3:13 remaining and rode that cushion the rest of the way. The Volunteers held a five-point lead entering the final minute, and Zeigler scored the game’s last four points at the foul line to seal the victory.
The Volunteers started out hot, making their first six shots for a 14-2 lead.
The Bulldogs recovered from that early punch, and after putting together a streak of six consecutive field goals of their own, they took their first lead at 28-27 on Molinar’s 3-pointer at the 5:15 mark of the opening half.
Despite a stretch that saw them make only one field goal in 14 shots over a stretch of over eight minutes, the Volunteers led 35-33 at the intermission. Despite sinking eight of their first nine shots, the Volunteers finished the period only 14 of 34 from the field (41.2 percent), while the Bulldogs were 10 of 20.
Mississippi State again hit 50 percent from the floor in the second half, but Tennessee’s 60.9 percent shooting after the break proved decisive.
–Field Level Media
