College Basketball

Tennessee trounces Georgia Tech 81-58

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:16 p.m. ET

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Shembari Phillips and Grant Williams each scored 14 points Saturday as Tennessee cruised to an 81-58 victory over Georgia Tech.

Tennessee (3-3) stayed in control virtually the entire way and led by as many as 28 points over a Georgia Tech team that hadn't trailed in a game by more than eight points all season before Saturday.

Williams' 14 points represented a career high for the freshman forward. Phillips had five rebounds and a career-high seven assists to go along with his 14 points.

John Fulkerson scored 12 points and Robert Hubbs III added 10 points for Tennessee.

Quinton Stephens scored 15, Christian Matthews had 14 and Josh Okogie added 11 for Georgia Tech (4-3). Ben Lammers had 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Georgia Tech played without usual starting guard Justin Moore, who stayed in Atlanta because of a stomach virus. Josh Heath, who made 15 starts in 2015-16, started in Moore's place and scored just two points while shooting 0 for 7.

Tennessee was playing its third straight game without Jordan Bone, who has a stress fracture in his left foot. Bone had been Tennessee's starting point guard before his injury.

The Vols also played a third straight game without forward Admiral Schofield due to a violation of team rules.

Tennessee was returning from a nine-day layoff after going 1-2 in the Maui Invitational last week, but it was Georgia Tech that looked like it hadn't played in over a week.

The Vols grabbed a 42-25 halftime lead by capitalizing on Georgia Tech's offensive futility. The Yellow Jackets went 4 of 7 on 3-pointers in the first half but was just 3 of 22 from inside the arc.

Georgia Tech missed 16 of its first 17 two-point attempts.

Williams scored the first eight points of the second half as Tennessee was never threatened the rest of the day.

THE TAKEAWAY

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets' offense didn't look quite the same without Moore, who averages a team-high 4.8 assists per game. Georgia Tech shot a season-low 32.7 percent from the floor and committed a season-high 19 turnovers.

Tennessee: The Vols didn't look intimidated at all against a Georgia Tech team that entered the day with nine blocks per game to lead all Division I teams. Tennessee shot 52.8 percent from the floor and had only two of its shots blocked.

UP NEXT

Georgia Tech: At VCU on Wednesday.

Tennessee: Hosts Presbyterian on Tuesday.

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