For more than a half, Tennessee seemed well on its way to another dominating win against a quality non-conference opponent at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Sunday.
Behind their stifling defense, the No. 7 Vols led by double digits for much of the game against No. 13 Maryland, holding a 21-point advantage at one point before a myriad of Tennessee mistakes and pressure applied by the Terrapins allowed them to make a game out of it over midway through the second half.
The Vols committed eight second-half turnovers and were outscored 36-22 in the final 20 minutes but held on to win, 56-53, for their eighth-straight victory.
Both teams got off to a sluggish start in the first half, combining for an abysmal 2-of-17 on field goal attempts in the first five minutes, but Tennessee — which was without Josiah-Jordan James and Jonas Aidoo —
opened up a big lead thanks to its defense creating opportunities.
Maryland shot just 12.5% from the field in the half and the Vols (9-1), led by one of its best defenders in Santiago Vescovi who made his first appearance in three games, had a hand in 10 Terrapins turnovers.
Despite Tennessee's own shooting woes (28.2% field goal shooting), it managed a sizable 34-17 advantage at halftime, but those struggles caught up with them.
Tennessee didn't score until over three minutes into the second half as it struggled to hit shots, and Uro Plavsic and Zakai Zeigler missed critical minutes with foul trouble.
Maryland (8-2) chipped away at the deficit with top scorer Jahmir Young scoring 11 of his 18 total points in the half to help his team's comeback bid.
A 12-0 run from the Terrapins cut the Tennessee lead 45-41 with just over six minutes left, but a Tyreke Key 3-pointer answered to put the Vols back up seven.
Tennessee guards hit a couple of big shots from beyond the arc in the final five minutes, including Jahmai Mashack, whose three responded to a 5-0 run by Maryland to pull within two with 5:11 to go.
While the Terrapins answered, those shots were good enough to maintain the Vols' lead, which they held from the 17:05 mark of the first half to the finish. The biggest shot came from Zeigler with less than three minutes on the clock. His 3-pointer followed scores from Julian Reese and Ian Martinez that brought Maryland within two.
As it has to this point in the season, Tennessee found its way to the free throw line plenty, taking 21 shots from there but hitting only 11 (52.4%). Missed free throws prevented the Vols from putting the game away for good in the closing seconds, but Young's game-tying 3-point attempt fell short as time expired.
Overall, Tennessee shot 28.8% from the field and 33.3% from three. The Vols outrebounded Maryland 48-40 and managed six steals, paced by Vescovi with six.
Zeigler, in a return to his home state of New York, led in scoring with 12 points while Key finished with 9 and Olivier Nkamhoua had 8. Freshman Julian Phillips had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Tennessee looks to extend its win streak in another marquee non-conference class against No. 10 Arizona on December 17 at McKale Memorial Center in Tucson. Tipoff is slated for 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
*****
– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.
– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.
– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @TMansfieldMedia, @JNichols_2121, @ByNoahTaylor, @TylerIvens, @RealTBannerman, @JacobPolacheck, @RyanTSylvia.
