BAYAMON, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Tennessee let Southern Illinois back in the game Wednesday night and the pesky Salukis just wouldn't go away.

The Volunteers (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP) used their size advantage to wear down Southern Illinois for an 87-74 victory in the semifinals of the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.

	Tennessee's Marcus Haislip slams home two points Wednesday in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic semifinals.

Vincent Yarbrough and Tony Harris each had 21 points for the Volunteers (11-0), who are off to the third-best start in school history and the best since the 1922-23 team opened 14-0.

They will play Tulsa in Thursday night's championship game. The Golden Hurricane advanced with a 76-51 victory over North Carolina Charlotte.

"That should be a great game," Tennessee coach Jerry Green said. "I was impressed with Tulsa's defense and they're a well-rounded, well-coached team."

The Salukis (4-5) gave Tennessee a much tougher fight than was expected and were still within seven points with less than a minute to play.

"The second half was ugly but they are a very aggressive team and did a good job changing up their defenses," Green said. "We bent but didn't break."

Tennessee had a 53-34 lead four minutes into the second half but the Volunteers gave the Salukis some help in 13-3 run that made the game close.

A free throw by Jermaine Dearman started the spurt for Southern Illinois and then Ricky Collum was credited with a 3-pointer on a goaltend. After a free throw by Harris, Ron Slay of the Volunteers was called for an offensive foul, his fourth personal, and then was charged with a technical for complaining about the call.

The Salukis got four points on the play -- two free throws by Collum and a drive by Abel Schrader on the ensuing possession. After a basket by Yarbrough, Slay was charged with a technical while on the bench. He was sent to the locker room and Collum again made two free throws. Dearman then made two more when fouled on the ensuing possession. After a missed shot by Tennessee, Derrick Tillmon scored on a fast-break dunk to bring Southern Illinois within 56-47 with 13:06 left.

"Ron made a bad decision, then a second," Green said.

Southern Illinois stayed close the rest of the way but could never break the seven-point mark. The Salukis were outshot 52 percent (29-for-56) to 36 percent (23-for-63).

"We started getting a little frustrated, the calls weren't going our way," Black said.

Black gave the Volunteers breathing room when he scored down low and then added a 3-pointer to make it 73-59 with 4:21 to play.

"At that point they were doing a really good job inside on defense and when there was penetration they kicked it back out to me," Black said of the big 3, his only shot from beyond the arc in the game. He's 5-for-11 from there this season.

Black, back from a one-game suspension for fighting, had 15 points.

Kent Williams had 15 points for the Salukis, who had won three of the last four games, and Collum had 13.

"We kept telling the kids we had to make it a two-possession game. You never know what can happen but we never got over the hump and closer than seven," Southern Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "We had our chances but didn't make smart plays when we did.

"I told the kids that's a top-20 team -- they can turn it on when they want and make plays -- and now you know what it takes to beat one."