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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Fourth-ranked Tennessee hadn't played in
a week, and the Volunteers showed the rust from their layoff. Then,
Terrence Woods came off the bench and woke them up.
|  | | Middle Tennessee's D'Marius Wilkes, left, looks to pick the pocket of Harris Walker. |
The sophomore guard scored 14 of his career-high 21 points in
the first half as the Vols beat Middle Tennessee State 99-83 on
Friday night at Gaylord Entertainment Center.
"He was critical," Tennessee coach Jerry Green said of Woods.
"It's almost a surprise when Terrence misses a shot."
Isaiah Victor also had 21 as the Vols (9-0) survived their first
test after moving up to their highest ranking since being ranked
fourth in January 1968. They needed the boost from Woods despite
the mostly orange crowd in what technically was a home game for
Middle Tennessee (3-5).
The Blue Raiders led by as many as seven in the first half, but
couldn't keep pace once the Vols finally kicked it into high gear
with a 22-0 run that started with 2:15 left in the first half and
stretched into the second.
"Tennessee is deep, and they kept throwing bodies and numbers
at us," Middle Tennessee coach Randy Wiel said. "For the most
part, we did what we set out to do."
Woods finished 5-for-6 from 3-point range and 6-for-9 overall in
20 minutes. Ron Slay added 16, and Vincent Yarbrough had 12 as
Tennessee's reserves outscored the Blue Raiders' 47-40.
Marcus Haislip started the spurt that not even a 10-minute delay
at the beginning of the second half to replace a broken shot clock
could slow. Pressing up and down the floor, they forced Middle
Tennessee into four turnovers in the first 75 seconds of the second
half.
"Their press defense was pretty effective. Normally, I could
say we didn't rebound or we made turnovers. But that wasn't the
case. I just think it was their press," Wiel said.
The Blue Raiders finished with 22 turnovers despite shooting 48
percent from the floor and outrebounding the Vols
42-39. Iiro Tenngren and Demario Watson each had 14 for Middle
Tennessee, and Freddie Martinez and Bryant Mitchell each added 11.
It was so bad at the beginning of the second half that Middle
Tennessee's Dale Thomas threw a deep inbounds pass away, while
Yarbrough stole the Blue Raiders' next inbounds attempt. Slay
finally capped the spurt with a free throw for a 53-37 lead with
15:05 left.
The Vols led by as much as 23 points, taking a 95-72 advantage into the
final minutes.
Slay, from Nashville, provided the highlight of the game in the
second half. Haislip missed a jumper, and Slay jumped high and
tipped it in off the backboard. The Vols stole the ball again off
the inbounds and fed Slay, who gently laid it in for the bucket. He
celebrated under the basket with a little dance, drawing a
technical.
Green said Slay had been busy with the cell phone all day long,
and Slay said playing at home energized him a lot.
"Coach told me to calm down a few times," Slay said.
The game started like a mirror image of the last three games
played in the series, which were decided by a total of nine points.
The teams swapped the lead with four ties through the first 11
minutes. Then Tennessee quit trying to get the ball inside and
tried to keep up with Middle Tennessee from outside and fell behind
by as much as 33-26 with 5:29 left on a 3 by Martinez.
But the Blue Raiders, who hit six of their first eight 3s,
didn't hit another down the stretch, while Woods hit all four of
the Vols' 3s in the half, including two in the final 56 seconds for
a 39-37 halftime lead.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Tennessee Clubhouse
Middle Tennessee State Clubhouse
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