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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Sixth-ranked Tennessee made up for a
poor night of offense and rebounding with some old-fashioned
defense and solid free throw shooting.
Vincent Yarbrough scored 23 points and Ron Slay added 17 as the
Volunteers withstood a second-half rally by Memphis for an 86-76
victory Tuesday night.
|  | | Tennessee's Vincent Yarbrough, who led the Vols with 23 points, shoots over Memphis' John Grice. |
The Volunteers (7-0) were just 25-for-60 from the field and were
outrebounded 47-36. But Tennessee used its press to force 34
turnovers and was 30-for-38 from the foul line.
"If you don't shoot or rebound well, you've got to press to
create turnovers. And you've got to put yourself in a position to
get fouled and go to the line and make them. We did that,"
Tennessee coach Jerry Green said.
Memphis (2-5) kept chipping away at the Vols' lead, finally
getting it down to three only to see Tennessee increase it back to
seven 30 seconds later.
That woke up the Vols.
"We realized we weren't going as hard as we could. I think
everybody clamped down in the press and just got a few turnovers,"
Yarbrough said.
Kelly Wise, who had 17 points and 21 rebounds, scored with 7:01
left to cut the lead to 64-61, but Slay was fouled twice under the
basket on the Vols' next two possessions and made all four free
throws for a 68-61 lead with 6:30 left.
Then Yarbrough tipped the ball away from Courtney Trask and took
it to the basket on the fast break for a nine-point lead.
The Vols, who have beaten Memphis five straight times, put the
game out of reach in the final minutes as Yarbrough made three free
throws and Harris added two more for a 79-69 lead with 3:32 left.
"We looked like we were afraid to win," first-year Memphis
coach John Calipari said. "We fouled them three straight times
down the floor when they were shooting fallaway jumpers."
It was the Tigers' fifth loss to a ranked team. Memphis has also
lost to Temple, Stanford, Utah and Arkansas.
Tennessee, returning home after beating West Virginia by one
point last Saturday, have won 34 straight at home over
non-conference opponents.
"This was an important game. Memphis may be the best 2-5 team
in the country," Green said.
Tony Harris finished with 16 points, including 8-for-10 from the
free throw line, mostly in the final minutes, for the Vols.
Yarbrough was 7-for-10 and Slay 10-for-12 from the line.
"We've been practicing that a lot," Yarbrough said of free
throw shooting.
The Tigers trimmed the lead to seven twice in the first nine
minutes of the second half, but both times the Vols responded with
a 3-pointer. Paris London's basket made it 53-46, and Harris
followed it with a 3. Then Memphis' John Grice hit a 3, and
Terrence Woods followed with another 3 for a 59-49 lead with 11:04
left.
Memphis, down by as many as 16 points in the first half,
finished the first half with a 6-0 run and narrowed Tennessee's
lead to 44-34 at halftime.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Memphis Clubhouse
Tennessee Clubhouse
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