No. 15 Tennessee returned home from Connecticut on Friday afternoon and picked up a 80-69 win over Tennessee Tech. Here's the four things that we learned about the Vols in their win over the Golden Eagles the day after Thanksgiving.

Freshmen lead the second half charge

It was Zakai Zeigler, Kennedy Chandler and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield that sparked the Vols' win.

Tennessee trailed 35-34 at the half after Tech's Jr. Clay drained a three at the buzzer. Both teams traded buckets for several minutes to start the second half and after Clay got a layup to fall, Tech led 47-46 with 14:38 remaining.

That's when Zeigler, Chandler and Huntley-Hatfield produced a 14-4 Tennessee run and scored 16 out of UT's next 18 points. The trio combined for 16 points, six assists, five steals, four rebounds and a block in the second half.

Sloppy first half

Tennessee's freshmen had to spark a comeback because of sloppy play from the Vols in the first half.

Tennessee Tech had taken a 28-27 lead, but after a Chandler three and back-to-back John Fulkerson buckets, the Vols were on a 7-0 run to claim a 34-28 lead. That's when Tech responded with a 4-0 run forcing Rick Barnes to call a timeout. Clay then hit his three at the buzzer to give the Eagles the lead.

The Vols shot 2-of-15 from three in the opening frame and allowed Tech to shoot 46.4% from the field and knock down three of their five 3-point attempts.

No Josiah-Jordan James or Justin Powell

Tennessee was without Josiah-Jordan James for a second straight game due to a lingering finger issue. James has played in just three games this season.

The Vols were also without Auburn transfer Jordan Powell who was experiencing flu-like symptoms. In four games this year, Powell is averaging 9.3 points per game.