Lipscomb Bisons vs Tennessee Volunteers Match Player Stats On Dec 09, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 9, 2017

Sophomore forward Grant Williams had 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots to help No. 24 Tennessee post an 81-71 victory over Lipscomb on Saturday in a nonconference contest at Knoxville, Tenn.

Junior forward Admiral Schofield scored 13 points as the Volunteers (7-1) continued their strong start. Senior guard James Daniel III tallied 12 points on four 3-pointers and junior guard Chris Darrington added 11 points.

Junior guard Garrison Mathews scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half for Lipscomb (6-4). Junior forward Eli Pepper scored 10 points and collected 15 rebounds before fouling out.

Tennessee is nationally ranked for the first since December 2010 and received a tougher test than expected from a Lipscomb squad that lost by 22 points to Alabama and 23 to Texas earlier this season.

The Bisons refused to go away and back-to-back baskets by Pepper pulled them within 69-62 with 3:22 remaining. But Pepper fouled out with 2:16 left and Williams later hit a jumper to push the lead back to 11 as the Volunteers closed it out.

Tennessee led by 13 at halftime but Lipscomb dominated the first six minutes of the second half.

Mathews converted a three-point play and knocked down a 3-pointer and junior forward Matt Rose hit a 3-pointer to cap the half-opening 13-4 surge to pull the Bisons within 44-40 with 14:02 left.

A three-point play by Mathews cut Tennessee's advantage to 50-47 with 11:20 remaining before the Volunteers gained some separation with an 11-3 run. Williams' three-point play culminated the burst and increased Tennessee's lead to 61-50 with 8:28 to play.

Tennessee connected on its last six shots in the first half to open up a 40-27 lead at break. Schofield and Daniel each had nine points over the first 20 minutes.

The Volunteers opened up a 17-7 lead after Williams' dunk with 11:49 left in the half. Lipscomb responded with a 12-5 burst with sophomore guard Kenny Cooper's layup cutting Tennessee's lead to 22-19 with 6:24 remaining.

A dunk by sophomore guard Lemonte Turner started a 16-5 run as the Volunteers increased their lead to 14. Turner drained a baseline jumper just prior to the buzzer to account for the 13-point halftime lead.

NOTES: Lipscomb fell to 0-11 all-time against Top 25 teams. ... Tennessee sophomore G Lemonte Turner had just seven points on 3-for-10 shooting after matching his career high of 24 points in Sunday's victory over Georgia Tech. ... Bisons junior G Garrison Mathews recorded his fifth 20-point outing of the season. ... The Volunteers have won all four meetings between the schools.