KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Fred Brown scored a game-high 18 points and the
Warhawks led by as many as four in the second half, but it was not enough as
Tennessee pulled away for an 85-62 victory Wednesday evening inside
Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Volunteers shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second half and outscored
the Warhawks by 25 points over the final 13 minutes. Tennessee (2-0) finished
with a 34-10 advantage in the paint.
ULM (0-3) had its best shooting effort of the season, finishing at 42.9
percent from the field. The 62 points scored were also a season high. Senior
guard Hugh Mingo was the only other ULM player to score in double figures,
finishing with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Senior center Fabio
Ribeiro scored eight points and had seven rebounds.
ULM led by as many as four points (39-35) early in the second half
following 3s from Trent Mackey and Charles Winborne. A jumper from Ribeiro gave
ULM its final lead at 48-46 with 13:45 remaining.
Tennessee exploded for a 29-9 run midway through the second half to
take a 75-57 advantage with 4:44 remaining in the game. The Vols hit four
3-pointers during that stretch and wore down an undersized ULM team in the
paint.
Trae Golden, the reigning SEC Player of the Week, led five Tennessee
players in double figures with 17 points and 11 assists. Skylar McBee had 15
points, Cameron Tatum chipped in 13 points and Jeronne Maymon and Josh
Richardson each had 11 points.
The Vols scored nine straight points - five from Golden - to take a 55-48
advantage. Richardson added a dunk and a 3-pointer to extend the Tennessee to
62-51 with 9:30 left in the game. Tatum added 3-pointers on back-to-back
possessions to build the Vols lead to 75-57.
Tennessee finished with a 46-27 rebounding edge and took advantage of
it by outscoring ULM 15-4 on second-chance points.
ULM held Tennessee to 31.3 percent shooting in the first half as the
two teams were tied 33-all at halftime. Brown scored 10 points in the half,
including a pair of 3-pointers to lead the way for the Warhawks, who shot 46.9
percent.
After falling behind 9-0 to start the game, the Warhawks rallied back
with a 16-6 run - capped by a 3-pointer from Brown - to take its first lead of
the game with 10:25 remaining before intermission. Neither team led by more
than four points the rest of the half.
Mingo hit back-to-back shots to give ULM its largest lead of the half
at 33-31 with 1:07 left.
The Warhawks return to action Saturday at Southeastern Louisiana. The
game is set to tip off at 6 p.m.
