National Basketball Association
Tennessee 83, Samford 70
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee
Officials:
# Pat Evans, # Pat Adams, # Lee Cassell
Attendance:
15794
By Field Level Media
Grant Williams contributed two free throws, a jumper and a three-point play to a second-half spurt that allowed third-ranked Tennessee to hold off a challenge from visiting Samford en route to an 83-70 nonconference victory on Wednesday night in Knoxville, Tenn.
Jordan Bone scored a game-high 24 points, Admiral Schofield had 18 points and four steals, and Williams finished with 16 points as the Volunteers (9-1) won their fifth straight since an overtime loss to Kansas last month.
Ruben Guerrero had a team-high 16 points with eight rebounds for the Bulldogs (10-3), who have already matched last year's victory total.
After leading by as many as seven points in the first half, Samford hung within 53-47 on a pair of free throws from Josh Sharkey with 12:26 to play.
But Tennessee responded to the challenge, scoring 13 of the next 17 points, including Williams' seven-point contribution.
That gave the Volunteers a 66-51 advantage with 8:45 to go, and the visitors were never appreciably closer the rest of the way.
Bone completed a double-double with a game-high 11 assists for Tennessee, which improved to 6-0 at home.
Kyle Alexander added 10 points for the Volunteers, who shot 57.9 percent.
Sharkey had a double-double for Samford with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with seven assists and three steals.
Kevion Nolan had 13 points, Myron Gordon 12 and Robert Allen a game-high 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who shot 36.5 percent and went just 7 of 23 on 3-point attempts.
Riding the momentum of a three-game winning streak, the Bulldogs jumped into a 28-21 lead in the first 13 1/2 minutes of the game. Brandon Austin had two 3-pointers, Nolan one and Guerrero a three-point play in the early run.
The Volunteers countered with a 16-0 flurry to take the lead for good. Bone, Jordan Bowden and Schofield ignited the burst with consecutive 3-pointers.
The run gave Tennessee a 37-28 lead that became 41-32 by halftime.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Samford |
|
Tennessee |
|
Ruben Guerrero 16 |
Scoring |
Jordan Bone 24 |
|
Josh Sharkey 7 |
Assists |
Jordan Bone 11 |
|
Robert Allen 11 |
Rebounds |
Yves Pons 9 |
|
Ruben Guerrero 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Grant Williams 6 |
|
Josh Sharkey 3 |
Steals |
Admiral Schofield 4 |
|
Robert Allen 2 |
Blocks |
Grant Williams 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Samford
|
70 |
36.5 |
7-23 |
17-22 |
13 |
34 |
2 |
7 |
12 |
| Tennessee
|
83 |
57.9 |
5-14 |
12-20 |
22 |
34 |
4 |
7 |
9 |
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