Knoxville, TN – Behind a staunch defensive effort, the #21 Tennessee Vols basketball team moved past Florida A&M, 72-43, Wednesday night in Thompson-Boling Arena.
The 43 points scored by the Rattlers (0-7) are the second fewest points scored by an opponent this season. It also marked the fewest points for Florida A&M this season. It is the third time this season the Vols (7-1) have held an opponent to fewer than 50 points.
The Vols limited the Rattlers to just 35.6 percent shooting from the field as only two Florida A&M players shot better than 50 percent from the field. Tennessee’s 29-point margin of victory Wednesday night is the second highest margin of victory this season.
Freshman Olivier Nkamhoua had a breakout performance, recording his first career double-double and the fourth for any Tennessee player this season.
The Helsinki, Finland native nearly doubled his season-high with 13 rebounds with seven of them coming on the offensive glass. He also posted a season-high 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting and also tallied a team-high two blocks.
Fellow freshman Josiah-Jordan James finished with a season-high in points with 10 while freshman Davonte Gaines added seven points of his own. The first-year trio accounted for nearly 40 percent of the Vols scoring in the win.
Their effort helped push the nation’s longest home winning streak to 31 games, the third longest home win streak in program history.
In total, Tennessee had five players finish with double-digit points. John Fulkerson tallied a game-high 15 points on 7-of-12 from the field. It was just two points off Fulkerson’s career high and was the sixth time in eight games this season he has had double-figure points.
Yves Pons posted 14 points to go along with seven rebounds, two steals and a block. The 6-6 junior has now recorded at least one block in every game this season and double-digit points in six games. Lamonte Turner was the final Vol player with double-digit points as all 10 came in the first half.
After Florida A&M scored a basket in the opening minute of the game, Tennessee would hold the Rattlers without a field goal for the next 9:15 in the game. During the stretch, UT built the lead out to 14 points.
By halftime, the Vols had pushed the lead to 21 points, the largest lead at the midway point this season. Both Pons and Turner were in double figures as their combined 22 points outscored the entire Florida A&M team by four points.
Tennessee made the most of its second chance opportunities, scoring 14 points on eight offense rebounds. Meanwhile, the Rattlers grabbed just 11 total rebounds through the first 20 minutes of play.
Top Ten Take
Lamonte Turner moved into the top 10 in program history in three point field goals Wednesday night. In four seasons on Rocky Top, Turner has compiled 171 three-point makes, which ranks second among all active SEC players.
He entered the top 10 with a three at the 5:24 mark of the first half. He is currently tied with Greg Bell (1987-91) for 10th and is eight threes back of Jordan McRae (2010-14) and Vincent Yarbrough (1998-2002) for eighth.
With the victory, Tennessee extended its home winning streak to 31 games, the longest active streak in Division I. The streak is now just two away from the second longest home winning streak in Tennessee history.
The 37-game win streak from 2006-09 and a 33-game win streak from 1966-68 stand as the only longer home win streaks in program history.
One Win Away
Head Coach Rick Barnes is now just one win away from becoming the 22nd coach in NCAA history to reach 700 victories in his career.
During Barnes five years on Rocky Top, the Vols now hold a 54-15 record as a ranked team (per the AP poll). He is also just five wins away from his 100th win as the Tennessee head coach.
Pons Production
Through just eight games this season, Yves Pons surpassed his combined point production from his first two seasons at Tennessee. Coming into 2019-20, Pons had 94 career points (1.59 points per game). This season he has upped his production to 12.63 points per game.
Next Up For Tennessee Men’s Basketball
Tennessee Vols Basketball is off for 10 days before a top-25 matchup with in-state foe Memphis on December 14th. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00pm on SEC Network.
