UT Athletic Department
Armani Moore scores a career-high 29 in win over Black Knights
Knoxville, TN – A late first-half surge capped by back-to-back baskets from Robert Hubbs III propelled Tennessee to a 95-80 victory over Army West Point Tuesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Armani Moore scored a career-high 29 points in the victory, while Kevin Punter Jr. poured in 26 and Hubbs finished with 14, the fifth time in as many games this season that UT has had at least three players score in double figures. Derek Reese pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds and hit the 3-pointer head coach Rick Barnes promised he could take for reaching a rebounding milestone.
Hubbs answered an Army basket the next trip down the floor with a 3-pointer that rattled home just before the buzzer. In all, Tennessee finished the half on a 9-2 run over the final 2:43.
“In the first half, we want three to five consecutive stops, but at not point in the first half did we do that. The fact is we showed them that. We showed them how you lose a lead. We talked about what we gave them and what they earned,” said Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes. “We gave a bunch away tonight, but that is going to happen some. You get the lead with your defense, and your offense has to keep it. I thought we learned a little bit about that. We definitely worked the clock better tonight. That is where we can get better, know the time to score.”
Tennessee would carry the momentum into the second half, building a lead that would reach as many as 18 points en route to the victory.
Tanner Plomb led the Black Knights with 24 points, Kyle Wilson scored 21.
“It was a really good team win for us tonight against a really well-coached team, a team with depth, experience. We are all happy with our bench play. We thought we really got some guys to come in and gave us some minutes there. That is something we have got to continue to build on. That was a hard-fought game,” said Barnes.
Barnes continued, “They executed extremely well. We did not go a good job of executing our game plan. The out-of-bounds play, that is something we have worked on but they have been very effective with that through the games we scouted and they still got it on us.
“Overall, there were really a lot of positives. I thought far and away it was our best game of the year. But I thought we were going to have to do that to win this game. It gives us something we can build on. We are going to have to continue to get better,” stated Barnes.
Armani Continues Hot Start
Moore knew entering the season that he would be relied on for offensive production in Barnes’ offense and he has responded in a big way. The senior has scored in double figures in every game this season and has established career highs twice in the process, scoring 20 against Marshall and shattering that with his 29 points to led all scorers on the night.
“Coach Barnes always says that a good shot is not a shot that you have to rush; a good shot is a rhythm shot,” stated Armani Moore. “The second half we came out, we were driving the lanes, kicking it out, swinging the ball, and I felt like everybody was taking a lot of in-rhythm shots.”
Lighting Up The Scoreboard
The 95 points scored against Army were the most by the Volunteers in regulation since defeating Memphis, 104-84, on January 4th 2011. Tennessee has now scored 80+ points in four of its five games this season after failing to crack 80 once last year, the 2014-15 season high of 78 coming against LSU.
The Vols shot over 52 percent for the third time this season. Their 52.9 percent from the field was the best so far this season. Tennessee’s 55 second-half points represented the most it has scored in a half this season, besting the 49 in the second half of the win over Marshall.
November Magic
The Vols extended their November home win streak to 58 games, a run that began in 1996. Tennessee is now 4-0 at home in 2015.
Next Up
The Tennessee Vols travel to Brooklyn NY to take on George Washington Friday, November 27th. Tip off is at 9:00pm ET (8:00pm CT).
Video
Rick Barnes Postgame Press Conference vs. Army West Point
