Tennessee entered Wednesday night’s game against No. 6 Arizona needing its post players to step up and deliver.

Defensively, Arizona arrived in Knoxville allowing the fewest two-point shots in the country according to KenPom. The Wildcats were fourth in block percentage and ranked eighth in overall adjusted defensive efficiency (88.5).

Arizona, as the second-tallest team in the country, entered just as efficient offensively ranking 14th in adjusted offensive.

One of the few remaining undefeated teams in the country presented the Vols with a bad matchup on paper.

But John Fulkerson answered the bell.

Tennessee’s sixth-year senior forward scored 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds to lead the Vols to a 77-73 win over No. 6 Arizona.

“(John Fulkerson) was terrific,” Rick Barnes said following the game. “He really was. A lot of guys were. It was a great team effort.

“I thought what Fulky did on the front line was huge. We finally got it to him and he got to the free throw line.”

Fulkerson was 8-of-12 from the free throw line as he drew 13 fouls on the evening. East Tennessee’s mayor outscored Arizona's three key post players alone by 12 points and nearly matched them in rebounds.

What was more impressive was the way Fulkerson closed out the game. With Arizona nibbling at the Vols’ heals, Fulkerson demanded the basketball. He promptly scored seven of Tennessee’s final 11 points to close out the win.

“I thought I couldn’t be stopped, and that if my teammates gave me the ball then I would make the right plays,” Fulkerson said. “I wouldn’t be in that position without my teammates and my coaches as well. So, a lot of credit to them for putting me in a position to be successful.”

It’s been a long year and a half for Fulkerson. Since being named to the 2019-2020 All-SEC Second Team, Fulkerson has battled numerous injuries and quite hasn’t been able to regain his old form.

Wednesday night, however, while the videoboard showed Fulkerson singing Christmas carols during timeouts, vintage Fulkerson showed up between the white lines.

“I would love to see that Fulky every day,” Fulkerson said. “You try to bring it every day, every practice, every game and I think that’s the standard my coaches and my teammates have for me. I just have to play to those standards every day, just keep being aggressive.”

“I just can’t help but smile because John Fulkerson is the type of guy to always push the attention and all the praise to somebody else,” junior guard Josiah-Jordan James added. “When John Fulkerson is at his best that’s how he is. I just can’t help but smile. He’s an outstanding human being and honestly somebody I aspire to be like.”

Tennessee now enters Christmas break with quite a bit of positive momentum.

With Fulkerson and the rest of the post seemingly having taken a step forward in the right direction, they’ll look to carry it over to conference play next Wednesday when they travel down to Tuscaloosa to take on No. 10 Alabama.