Vandy deals Vols big blow in 67-62 win

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Posted 8:03AM on Sunday, February 24, 2002

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - When Vanderbilt started the game shooting 5-for-15 from the floor, it looked like the Commodores were still mired in a four-game offensive slump. Vanderbilt (15-12, 5-9 Southeastern Conference) finally got the shots to fall and kept the defensive pressure on Tennessee to take a nine-point lead at halftime en route to a 67-62 win Saturday. ``We were a very discouraged group. We got off to a slow start, and although it was slow offensively, we were playing well defensively,'' Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. ``Golly, at halftime we looked up and had 37 points. The last two games we've had 43 (at the end). So imagine the hot streak we felt we were on.'' The Commodores snapped their four-game losing streak overall and three-game losing streak to the Volunteers (13-14, 6-8), who have made their bid for the NCAA tournament nearly improbable. Tennessee had a chance at the end after Jon Higgins' 3 cut Vanderbilt's lead to two with a minute left. But the Vols couldn't get any closer. The Commodores were ahead by nine with 3:01 left, but Tennessee had a quick 7-0 run capped by Higgins' 3 that cut it to 64-62 with a minute left. Vanderbilt's Russell Lakey made the second of two free throws to stretch the lead back to three. Jenis Grindstaff missed a jumper in the lane at the other end for Tennessee, and Vanderbilt got the ball back with 30 seconds left. Chuck Moore sealed it with a pair of free throws with 20.7 to go. Matt Freije led Vanderbilt in scoring with 18 points and Brian Thornton added 10 and 11 rebounds. ``I think the last games we've lacked a lot of energy. We played with twice as much energy as the last two games combined, and that was a major key for us,'' Freije said. Marcus Haislip scored 14 points in the first half but only three in the second for Tennessee. Grindstaff finished with 13 points. A variation of a box-and-one defense on Yarbrough held him to 10 points and nine rebounds. ``Vanderbilt played very hard and really got after it,'' Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson said. ``They caught us a little off guard. I told our guys that Vanderbilt would come in here fired up.'' The Vols had other chances to take the lead before the end. Vanderbilt was ahead 51-45 with 8:58 left after Brendan Plavich's 3, and Tennessee closed in. Thaydeus Holden and Grindstaff each made 3-pointers to tie it at 51 less than a minute later. But Lakey hit a 3 to start an 11-2 run that ended with Freije's 3-pointer that put the Commodores ahead 62-53 with 4:12 left. Yarbrough, the SEC's leading scorer at 20 points averaged a game, scored the Vols' only points during the span. Those two free throws snapped his scoring drought since a dunk with 8:47 left in the first half. Tennessee trailed by nine after shooting a dismal 8-of-28 from the floor in the first half, but the Vols got back in the game with a 10-0 run early in the second half.