WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & SportsVanderbilt blasts sloppy Vols, 65-47

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Jeffery Taylor scored 15 of his 23 points in the first half, and the Vanderbilt Commodores bounced back Tuesday night by routing their instate rival Tennessee 65-47 for their ninth win in 10 games.

The Commodores (15-5, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) had an eight-game winning streak snapped with an overtime loss to then-No. 20 Mississippi State. This time, they scored the first nine points of the game in rolling to another win.

"It was real physical, probably the most physical all year that I've played in," said Vols' forward Jeronne Maymon. "I guess a couple of the guys got rattled. A couple of our guards had a tough time catching the ball on the wing, so it was just hard for us all around.

"It's very frustrating because we were pretty high after that win (over UConn). We came in with the right kind of mind set, and were hoping to go out here and make it a good game, but as we saw we couldn't do that today."

The loss ruined Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin's debut in the orange blazer made famous by Ray Mears, then Bruce Pearl. The Vols (9-11, 1-4) fell to 0-6 in true road games, had a season-low point total and looked nothing like the group that upset defending national champion Connecticut 60-57 last weekend.

John Jenkins, the SEC's leading scorer, had 16 points.

Maymon led Tennessee with 15 points. Freshman Jarnell Stokes had 10 rebounds but only six points in the fourth game of his very short career. It was his second straight start.

These teams are the SEC's stingiest scoring defenses with Vandy holding opponents to 59 points and Tennessee allowing 60 points in league play. The Vols couldn't slow down Vanderbilt and especially Taylor. After being swept by Tennessee in two of his first three seasons, Taylor scored six of Vanderbilt's first 11 points, and he also had seven rebounds in the first half.

"We were active. Our hands got in a lot of balls," said Vandy coach Kevin Stallings. "It was a very physical battle. We have older, physical guys and they played well.

"It's a rivalry game. We feel like last year, we let the games [against Tennessee] get away from us. Our guys were in tune and wanted to play, and played very well."

Even with the Commodores comfortably ahead, Taylor kept playing hard. He stole the ball from Wes Washpun and tossed it to Jenkins before going out of bounds, and Taylor finished the possession with a 3-pointer with 6:50 left.

Vanderbilt led by as much as 54-27 on a 3-pointer by Dai-Jon Parker. The Commodores shot 8 of 18 (44.4 percent) from 3-point range against a Tennessee defense that had been holding SEC teams to 25.8 percent beyond the arc.

Tennessee couldn't have been much sloppier with 10 turnovers midway through the first half, and the Vols also struggled to shoot. They hit just 7 of 24 (29.2 percent) in the first half. They also finished with a season-high 25 turnovers that Vanderbilt turned into 30 points.

"I was frustrated with 25 turnovers," Martin said. "If my team plays hard, I can deal with that. If you are turning the ball over, you can't find a chance to win."

The Commodores had no such problems against a Tennessee defense that held Florida, Kentucky and UConn to its lowest scoring games this season.

Jenkins hit a 3, then Lance Goulbourne added another to push Vanderbilt's lead to double digits for the first time at 20-8 with 10:37 left. The Commodores looked ready to run Tennessee out of the gym, jumping out to a 30-10 lead on a putback by Taylor with 5:46 left.

The Vols showed some signs of life when officials called senior Festus Ezeli for a flagrant foul with an apparent blow to Stokes' head, and the freshman hit a pair of free throws. The two drew a technical apiece in the second half when Stokes bumped into Ezeli after drawing a foul from the senior.

Maymon scored, then stole the ball from Goulbourne and passed it to Trae Golden for a dunk. Brad Tinsley brought the crowd to its feet with consecutive dunks 17 seconds apart late in the half, the second as he drove past Skylar McBee.

That was the Vols' best spurt as Vanderbilt cruised to the win and had the student section chanting in celebration with plenty of time left in the game.

Martin said the loss was disappointing, but he didn't consider it a big setback after last week's upset of No. 11 UConn.

"We have to get back to work and keep pushing," Martin said. "We have to find a way to compete and win on the road. We just have to get back to work."

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.