No. 3 Tennessee continued to serve noticed that the Vols are going to be a team to be reckoned with—not only in the SEC but in the country—after throttling Georgia in Saturday’s SEC opener, 96-50.
Winners of eight straight, the Vols (12-1, 1-0) are off to their best start since 2007-2008 and haven’t lost a game in Thompson-Boling Arena in their last 18 tries.
Georgia (8-5, 0-1) never had a chance, much to the chagrin of head coach Tom Crean.
“I don’t think we competed at all except for Derek [Ogbeide] at times,” Crean said. “We didn’t compete and fight, and that's my biggest concern with this team. They work hard, but we need to learn how to play hard longer. It is disappointing that [Tennessee] got a lot of open looks today. You can’t give anybody that many open looks, especially a team as good as Tennessee . . . It was an uphill fight for us three or so minutes into the game. I haven’t seen this team any slower. We have to fix it. We have a long ways to go and a short period of time, so we need to get better in a hurry.”
Leading 53-24 at the half, the Vols continued to pour it on the second.
Five different players scored in double-figures for the Vols, led by Jordan Bone with 20 points, followed by Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield with 18 each, followed by Jordan Bone with 11 and Kyle Alexander with a double-double (12 points, 14 rebounds) for Tennessee, which continues to show why it’s one of the nation’s best programs.
Tennessee’s only loss came back on Nov. 23 to Kansas, but in the weeks since then, the Vols chalked up wins over the likes of then-No. 1 Gonzaga (76-73), Memphis (102-92), and Wake Forest (83-64).
Derek Ogbeide scored 17 points to lead the Bulldogs, who shot just 31.5 percent from the field (17 of 54) and missed its first 15 3-pointers before freshman Amanze Ngumezi ended the skid with just over 10 minutes to play. No other Georgia player finished in double-figures.
Otherwise, it was a tough lesson for a young Georgia squad under Crean, whose team’s 50 points established a season low.
The Bulldogs were out-matched in all phases, including on the boards after the Volunteers out-rebounded Georgia by a hefty 40-25 count.
The game was over at the half, or possibly long before that.
A steal and a basket by Jordan Harris cut Tennessee’s early lead to 11-10, but the game got away shortly after that. A 3-pointer by Schofield started a 14-1 run for the Volunteers, culminating in a brilliant finger roll by Jordan Bone that pushed the margin to 25-12.
Georgia simply couldn’t find any answers.
By the time halftime mercifully came to an end, Tennessee already boasted three players in double-figures: Williams (15), Schofield (13) and Bowden (13), for a Volunteer squad that shot 56.7 percent (17 of 30).
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs could only manage a 9-of-27 effort from the field in the first half, including 0-for-9 from three-point range while being out-rebounded by the more talented and experienced Vols, 17-10.
Georgia entertains Vanderbilt Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
“We have to learn from this," Crean said. "We have to turn around for a hungry team [Vanderbilt]. We will play better, but we have to play better longer."
