Knecht, Zeigler lead No. 8 Tennessee to 88-53 rout of Vanderbilt

1:30

No. 8 Tennessee logs dominant win over Vanderbilt

The Volunteers complete a season sweep of their in-state foe, Vanderbilt, for the sixth time in the past seven campaigns with the 88-53 victory.

Updated: Feb 18, 2024, 02:01 am

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- — Dalton Knecht and Zakai Zeigler scored 14 points apiece to lead No. 8 Tennessee to an 88-53 victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday night.

Josiah-Jordan James had 13 points, Santiago Vescovi scored 12 and Jonas Aidoo added 11 points and eight rebounds as the Volunteers (19-6, 9-3 Southeastern Conference) beat the Commodores (7-18, 2-10) for the 13th time in their last 14 meetings.

“(A performance like this) comes from a lot of respect we have for Vanderbilt,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. “Our older guys have been in so many tough games with them. Our guys prepared that they were ready to play.”

Tennessee had 28 assists on 33 baskets.

“That's when we're at our best," Barnes said. “We love it when we're sharing the ball like that. I thought our guys were really locked in.”

Ven-Allen Lubin scored 10 points to pace Vanderbilt.

“(Tennessee) played as well as they have all year,” Commodores coach Jerry Stackhouse said.

Tennessee hit its first five shots to jump out to a 13-3 lead. By the time the Vols had made nine of their first 12, they led 23-7.

At halftime, Knecht and James had 10 points each and Tennessee was completely in charge, 51-20.

BIG PICTURE

Vanderbilt: Consistency is the next step for the Commodores. Earlier this season, they led Tennessee by five at halftime but ultimately lost by double digits. This week, Vanderbilt stunned Texas A&M at the buzzer, then had a disappointing showing at Tennessee.

Tennessee: If the Volunteers are going to live up to the predictions of tournament success in March that so many are heaping on them, they’re going to have to be better on the boards. Heading into the Vanderbilt game, Tennessee had been outrebounded in five of its 11 SEC games. Two of those five games were losses.

UP NEXT

Vanderbilt: Will face Georgia at home Wednesday night.

Tennessee: Will play Tuesday night at Missouri.

------

Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here.

------

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball