KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Every time South Carolina moved, Tennessee answered.
Victor Bailey was a big part of the volunteers’ response.
Bailey hit 7 out of 10 points and scored 29 points, the best of his career, taking Tennessee’s No. 19 to a 93-73 victory over the Gamecocks on Wednesday night.
The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but what turned out to be a false positive COVID-19 test for a Tennessee player led to a one-day delay.
John Fulkerson scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, Jaden Springer added 16 points and Yves Pons made 10 for the Volunteers (15-5, 8-5 Southeast Conference).
AJ Lawson led the Gamecocks (5-10, 3-8) with 20 points. Keyshawn Bryant and TJ Moss scored 15 each.
Tennessee increased their lead by 11 points in the break to 89-69 at the end of the second half thanks to a 17-7 straight. Bailey scored nine points on the burst and Fulkerson scored eight.
“We can’t stop the bleeding when it starts,” said South Carolina coach Frank Martin. “The biggest problem is that we have no personality in the defense. We gave up another high point in our career. The desire to defend and maintain the effort is not what it needs to be. “
Bailey had struggled in the past few weeks after a strong start to the season.
“Sometimes, when a player stops thinking about making shots and just plays, the shots go down,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. “All we ask of him, like anyone else, is’ Do what you do and trust each other. Play with your strength. ‘”
“I tried to remain resilient,” said Bailey. “I have remained focused on my work. It is difficult to work when you are not seeing the results ”.
Bailey hit 4 out of 7 out of 3 points and scored 14 points to take Tennessee to a 50-39 lead at halftime. Spring connected to a bell jumper to mark 10 in the first half. The Vols were good at 6 out of 13 points out of 3 in the first 20 minutes.
MORE SCORE
Tennessee has scored 80 or more points in three of its last four games. However, Barnes saw a lot of room for improvement.
“If we don’t make the turn as we did (16), we will be much better,” said the coach. “There are things that we have to clean up.”
One area that improved was Vols scoring 16 points in the transition.
FALSE POSITIVE
If the positive result of the COVID-19 test for a Tennessee player was not false, Volunteers would have lost four players due to subsequent contact tracking. But all tests were negative on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, meaning that all four players were released to play according to SEC rules, the university said.
Josiah-Jordan James, from Tennessee, lost the game due to an injury to his left wrist.
BIG PICTURE
South Carolina: The Gamecocks dropped their fourth straight. After Saturday’s loss to Ole Miss, Bryant said: “Three consecutive losses is just the result of playing individual basketball and not team basketball.”
Tennessee: Finding consistency is the Vols’ mission towards the postseason. This starts with veterans Pons and Fulkerson playing according to the expectations they had at the beginning of the season.
“We need both to be aggressive,” said Barnes. “Not only in attack, but also in defense. They need to be involved and engaged, playing with some strength. “
NEXT
South Carolina: hosts Missouri on Saturday. Gamecocks had eight games affected by the pandemic.
Tennessee: hosts Kentucky on Saturday. Tennessee won 82-71 at the Rupp Arena on February 6.
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