Josiah-Jordan James and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield each scored 12 points, and No. 13 Tennessee found its shooting touch with 13 three-pointers in a 76-36 rout of UNC Greensboro on Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn.
Santiago Vescovi notched 10 points, eight assists and four steals for the Volunteers (7-2).
Tennessee hit 13-of-35 shots (37.1 percent) from beyond the arc, with James going 4-for-7.
Zakai Zeigler chipped in nine points — all on threes — and season scoring leader Kennedy Chandler added nine points and six assists.
The Vols held a 32-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
De’Monte Buckingham tallied 10 points and five rebounds for UNCG (7-3), but the Spartans were outmatched and could not find offense after getting the game to within six points midway through the first half.
UNCG shot just 36.8 percent from the field and went only 3-of-16 from 3-point range.
The Vols raced to an 11-2 lead behind five points from Victor Bailey Jr. and 3-pointers by Vescovi and Olivier Nkamhoua in the first 6:09.
Jalen White’s layup with 9:46 left cut the Spartans’ deficit to 15-9, but Tennessee drained a trio of 3-pointers in a span of 2:15 to increase the lead to 28-11.
Unlike in their 57-52 overtime loss Tuesday against Texas Tech, the Vols were hot from long range.
They made six of their 40 shots from distance in that Jimmy V Classic matchup against the Red Raiders, plus shot just 26.8 percent from the field.
However, the SEC school went 7-for-18 (38.9 percent) from 3-point range in the first half against UNCG — leading 33-15 at halftime — and got threes from seven different players for the game.
The Spartans went just 2-of-7 from behind the arc in the first half.
In the second half, Tennessee’s lead grew to 41-17 inside the first two minutes on an 8-0 run, which included a pair of treys from James.
With UNCG going almost 10 minutes without a field goal in the second half, the Vols outscored the Spartans 43-21 and eased to the victory.
–Field Level Media
