Tennessee road struggles continue in 86-69 loss to Vandy

[title_box title=”Tennessee road struggles continue in 86-69 loss to Vandy”]

Tennessee traveled to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt Tuesday evening.

The Vols were looking to bounce back from a bad loss to Arkansas on Saturday, but they will have to do this without two key players in Kevin Punter (foot) and Robert Hubbs III (knee). Armani Moore is playing after having flu-like symptoms this week.

The first 13 minutes of the game were tightly congested, with the largest lead from both teams at four points.

Tennessee committed 11 fouls in the first half. Admiral Schofield was responsible for three of those fouls and had to leave the game with 9:42 left in the first half.

Vandy (19-11, 11-6) would adjust, and the Vols would struggle in the last seven minutes, allowing the Commodores to take an insurmountable 19-point lead at halftime.

The end of the first half would foreshadow the rest of the contest. Vandy kept pounding Tennessee on both sides of the ball. The Vols went through a four-minute scoreless stretch that allowed the Commodores to take an overwhelming 73-49 lead with just over seven minutes to play.

Freshman Shembari Phillips would score a season-high 23 points, but failed to help push Tennessee back into the game. Vandy ended up with the easy victory, 86-69.

With the loss, the Vols are now 13-17 on the season, and will take on Ole Miss at home on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET to cap off the regular season.

Featured image courtesy of Ryan Glenn

Edited by David Bradford