Tennessee 81-76 Vanderbilt (15 February 2025) Game Recap

Knoxville, Tenn .– Zakai Zeigler scored 22 points, all in the second half, and No. 5 Tennessee stood from a 16-point first half deficit to beat Vanderbilt on Saturday 81-76.

Chaz Lanieradded 21, for the volunteers (21-5, 8-5 Southeastern Conference).

Jason Edwards led Commodores (17-8, 5-7) with 24 points. Jaylen Carey came from the bench to score 18 before he got off with 4:13 back in the game.

Edwards and Carey had 10 points each as Vanderbilt jumped to a 44-31 lead at the break. Commodores were productive down. They had an advantage in points in the paint (20-12).

Takeaways

Vanderbilt: Jaylen Carey has evolved into a strength from the bench for commodores. He has scored in double in five of the last eight games and has proven to be productive as a rebounder. Carey was instrumental in igniting the Vanderbilt -the violation early against Tennessee.

Tennessee: Last year Dalton Knecht was good enough to help Vols through the games where shots didn’t fall. 2022-23 and this season have been more challenging. Although its defense is considered among the best in the country, Tennessee has not found a consistent response to a sluggish violation – which has resulted in occasional losses.

Keying moment

After drawing with as many as 16 points in the first half, Tennessee was playing on a Zakai Zeigler 3-Pointer with 9:41 back in the game.

Key State

After being surpassed 21-10 in the first half, the Tennessee boards dominated 20-12 in the second half.

Up next

Vanderbilt travels to Kentucky on Wednesday and Tennessee is out the week before the trip to Texas A&M next Saturday.

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