Thursday, March 15, 2018

Tennessee shuts down Wright State 73-47

Story and Photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

DALLAS, TEXAS (March 15, 2018)  After failing to score in the first three minutes of the game, the No. 3 Tennessee Volunteers took a 34-23 lead into halftime and went on to down the No. 14 Wright State Raiders by the score of 73-47 at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

The Raiders showed little offense offense after the first few minutes of the game, shooting 31% from the field and 19% from three-point range. It was a distinct difference from the regulars season, where they shot 43% and average more than 72 points a game.

Lamonte Turner came off the bench and scored 19 points for the Volunteers and head coach Rick Barnes. The 61- sophomore guard from Florence, Alabama was 9-of-10 from the free-throw line and hit two three-pointers. Starting guard Admiral Schofield (Zion, Illinois) tallied 15 points and 12 rebounds, 10 of them on defense, for his fourth double-double of the season. Grant Williams (Charlotte, North Carolina) added 14 in the winning effort. 

Barnes stated after the game:

"Obviously we're happy with the win and the fact that we felt coming in that Wright State would be as difficult a team that we've played all year in terms of the way they move without the ball. They're really a team that, you watching them on tape, you could tell they were just a terrific team. They understood each other. They've had one of those special years, a lot like we have. So from that point, defensively we were really pretty good today against a team that's not a very easy team to guard. Offensively once we settled in, we settled in, and we missed some easy ones early, but we settled in and got our offense going."

Wright State heads home to Dayton, Ohio with a 25-10 record while Tennessee moves on to face the winner of No. 11 Loyola Chicago and No. 8 Miami on Saturday, March 17. The tip-off time yet to be determined.

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