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HomeSportsTennessee Volunteers Basketball loses to Nebraska Cornhuskers 82-71

Tennessee Volunteers Basketball loses to Nebraska Cornhuskers 82-71

UT Athletic Department

Tennessee Volunteers - UT VolsBrooklyn, NY – Tennessee lost to Nebraska, 82-71, in the consolation game of the Barclays Center Classic on Saturday afternoon, as the Vols (4-3) played their second game in less than 13 hours.

Tennessee was led by Kevin Punter Jr., who tallied 23 points. Robert Hubbs III added 13 and Admiral Schofield scored 12 points.

Nebraska (5-2) was led by Tai Webster, who netted 18 points. He was joined in double-figures by Andrew White (15), Shavon Shields (11), Jake Hammond (11) and Glynn Watson Jr. (10). Hammond grabbed 10 rebounds as the Huskers out-rebounded the Vols, 46-30.

Tennessee Volunteers guard Kevin Punter (0) dribbles in front of Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Andrew White (3) during the consolation game at Barclays Center. Nebraska wins, 82-71. (Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)
Tennessee Volunteers guard Kevin Punter (0) dribbles in front of Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Andrew White (3) during the consolation game at Barclays Center. Nebraska wins, 82-71. (Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)

Leading 40-32 at halftime, Nebraska opened the second half with a 17-4 spurt to take a 57-36 lead with less than 14 minutes to go in the second half. White, who scored all of his 15 points in the second half, had eight of the 17 Huskers points in the run.

In a return to his native New York City, Kevin Punter tallied 47 points in two games. The Bronx native shot 14-of-27 in the Barclays Classic and improved his season-long scoring average to 22.3 points per game through seven games. He had entered Saturday’s contest tied atop the SEC in scoring.

Punter has scored 20+ points in four consecutive games and is averaging 24.0 ppg in those contests.

Freshman Admiral Schofield scored 12 points off the bench for Tennessee, single-handedly accounting for over half of the Vols’ 22 bench points. Facing a 22-point deficit — Tennessee’s largest of the season — Schofield provided a spark when he knocked down his first career 3-pointer with 12:11 still on the clock. The freshman would go on to score seven more points in the period — including another trey less than two minutes later — to help his team battle back to within nine late in the game.

Schofield finished with 17 minutes off the bench.

Devon Baulkman connected on his first two 3-point attempts to begin the game, giving him five straight games of multiple 3-pointers made. The senior has now connected on 17 threes over his last five games — an average of 5.7 per game. Baulkman finished with six points for the game.

Guard Detrick Mostella was also effective off the bench, chipping in six points and a career-high four assists in 21 minutes.

Next

Tennessee now begins a two-week hiatus as the academic semester winds to a close. The Vols will not play again until December 12th when it travels to Indianapolis to face Butler at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. UT is 2-2 all-time against the Bulldogs, including a 67-55 win over a 15th-ranked Butler team in Knoxville last season. It will be just the second-ever meeting between the two programs in Indianapolis and the first since 1958.

Vols coach Rick Barnes is 0-1 in his career against Butler. His 2014-15 Texas team fell to the Bulldogs, 56-48, in the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament. He is 1-1 in his career against Butler head coach Chris Holtmann.

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