Tennessee Basketball: Vols advance to Round of 32 after blowout win

The Tennessee Volunteers advanced to the Round of 32 after a blowout win against the Wright State Raiders on Thursday afternoon.

The Tennessee Volunteers took on the Wright State Raiders on Thursday afternoon, with the Volunteers coming away with an impressive win, 73-47.

Game Recap

It took the Volunteers a little while to get started, as both teams looked like they were getting jitters out of their system. This was the first NCAA Tournament game for everyone on the Volunteers roster, so it was highly likely that the Volunteers would start out slow.

The Volunteers couldn’t buy a bucket early, as they missed their first six shots of the game. Tennessee finally broke their slow stretch, making their next five shots. The Volunteers were able to get Wright State’s big man, Loudon Love, in early foul trouble with over 10 minutes left in the 1st half. Tennessee was able to get out to a 10-point lead and continued to keep that for the rest of the game.

The Volunteers defense was great all game, as they held the Raiders to just 23 points at halftime. James Daniel III made two free throws right before halftime, with the Volunteers taking a 34-23 lead into halftime.

Tennessee continued to step on the gas the rest of the game. Both teams traded shots at the beginning of the 2nd half. Wright State cut it to a 10-point lead, but that was as close as they got the rest of the game. To simply put it, the Volunteers dominated the rest of the game. Tennessee was able to get shots from inside the paint and outside the arc throughout the 2nd half.

The Volunteers maintained a 20-point lead for the rest of the game. Admiral Schofield put the icing on the cake for the Volunteers as he posterized two Wright State defenders.

Schofield’s dunk signified Tennessee’s dominance on Wright State in this first round matchup of the NCAA Tournament.

The Volunteers defense was relentless all game long. Wright State shot just 31.7% as a team. The Volunteers defense held the Raiders to just 47 points, which is a record for Tennessee in an NCAA Tournament game.

Lamonte Turner played great, as he led the Volunteers in scoring as he finished with 19 points and dished out nine assists. Schofield had a complete game as he finished with a double-double. He had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Grant Williams was one rebound away from a double-double as he had 14 points and nine rebounds.

John Fulkerson saw a lot of action in the game, playing 15 minutes. Fulkerson only scored two points but picked up seven rebounds. Yves Pons also saw a decent amount of action, with both Fulkerson and Pons matching up with Wright State’s bigs well.

Up Next

The Tennessee Volunteers will face off against Loyola-Chicago on Saturday. Tipoff will occur at 5:10 CT. Loyola-Chicago will be riding into this game high, as they made a buzzer-beater against Miami.

Loyola-Chicago has been labeled as the Cinderella team of this year’s NCAA Tournament, picking up a buzzer-beater win over a 6-seed Miami squad.