Tennessee 102, South Florida 90

RECAP

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- The Bulls made their runs, but could never quite run past junior Tony Harris and 18th-ranked Tennessee.

Harris scored a career-high 29 points and thwarted several rallies with big shots as the Volunteers remained unbeaten by holding off South Florida, 102-90.

Tennessee had won its first three games by a combined 94 points but needed to play the entire 40 minutes for its 37th win in 42 games at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Volunteers have knocked off 24 straight non-conference foes at home and improved to 6-0 all-time against the Bulls.

Harris, who entered the contest averaging 10.7 points, eclipsed his previous career high of 25 established against Arizona on November 13, 1998.

"Give Tennessee credit," South Florida coach Seth Greenberg said. "They made the shots. We didn't affect as many shots as I would have liked. The second half we had the game where we wanted it. We made some mental mistakes."

South Florida cut into a 15-point halftime deficit by going on a 15-5 run to start the second half, pulling within 61-56 with 15:16 to play. But Harris appeared to have the answer for every surge, shooting 8-of-14 from the field, including a pair of devastating 3-pointers down the stretch.

Harris' second big shot from beyond the arc extended Tennessee's advantage to 88-78 with 2:19 remaining.

The Bulls ran into a familiar foe in sophomore forward Vincent Yarbrough, who eclipsed his career high with 25 points. Yarbrough established his previous best of 23 as a freshman against South Florida on December 19.

"Tony Harris and Vincent Yarbrough had terrific first halves," Vols coach Jerry Green said. "South Florida came out the second half more aggressive. We hit a comfort zone and let them back into it."

B.B. Waldon collected 27 points for South Florida, which slipped to 0-2. Waldon also grabbed 15 rebounds to led the Bulls to a 41-38 advantage on the boards.

"South Florida is a very good team," Green said. "And B.B. Waldon is a heck of a player."

"Our ability to get Waldon the ball was a key," Greenberg added. "That's the way we expect Waldon to play."

Scott Johnson scored 16 points and Chris Smith added 13 for the Bulls, who shot 51 percent (33-of-65) but committed 20 turnovers and were outscored at the line, 27-15.

"Hitting 15-of-29 at the line don't win for you," Greenberg said. "If we make our free throws in the first half and they don't shoot as well, who knows what might happen?"

Isiah Victor tallied 12 points, Jon Higgins 11 and C.J. Black added 10 as all five Tennessee starters broke into double figures. The Volunteers shot 45 percent (30-of-66), but excelled from long distance.

"It was awfully good to win with one of our best players, Isiah Victor, not having one of his best games," Green added.

Harris and Yarborough combined to knock down 9-of-17 3-pointers, seven of which came in the first half as Tennessee opened a 56-41 lead at intermission.

But the Bulls responded. After a pair of free throws by Victor, Waldon reeled off 10 of South Florida's next 12 points, pulling the Bulls within 61-53. Reggie Kohn drained a 3-pointer on South Florida's ensuing possession to cut the deficit to five with 15:16 left.

Black answered with a 3-pointer and the team traded baskets until Harris' long jumper made it 75-64 with 8:54 remaining.

BOXSCORE

SOUTH FLORIDA (90)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Waldon          35 10-19  7-11  5-15  3  4   27
Asbury          28   2-8   0-2   1-1  4  4    4
Johnson         29  5-10   4-5   0-9  2  5   16
Smith           28   4-6   2-4   1-6  3  4   13
Kohn            20   2-6   0-0   1-3  3  2    6
Sanders          5   0-1   0-0   0-0  1  0    0
Dawson          14   2-2   0-1   0-0  2  2    5
Reeves          15   2-4   2-6   0-0  1  1    6
A Jackson       20   5-8   0-0   1-1  2  4   11
H Jackson        6   1-1   0-0   0-1  1  1    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 33-65 15-29  9-36 22 27   90
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Percentages: FG-.508, FT-.517. 3-Point Goals:
9-22, .409 (Waldon 0-1, Asbury 0-2, Johnson 2-5,
Smith 3-5, Kohn 2-6, Dawson 1-1, A Jackson 1-2).
Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 2 (Asbury,
Reeves). Turnovers: 20 (Smith 4, Waldon 4,
Johnson 3, Kohn 3, Asbury 2, A Jackson, Dawson,
Reeves, Sanders). Steals: 10 (Asbury 3, A Jackson
2, Kohn 2, Dawson, Johnson, Smith).

TENNESSEE (102)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Victor          18   2-8  8-15   1-7  1  3   12
Yarbrough       33  7-11   7-8   1-5  4  1   25
Black           35   3-8   3-4   4-9  0  4   10
Higgins         33   4-9   0-1   1-2  2  3   11
Harris          37  8-14  8-10   0-3  5  1   29
Walker          11   2-5   0-0   2-2  2  4    5
Haislip          3   1-2   0-0   1-2  0  2    2
Woods            3   0-1   0-0   0-0  1  0    0
Baker            3   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Slay            14   3-7   1-1   2-4  2  5    8
Hathaway        10   0-1   0-0   0-1  1  1    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 30-66 27-39 12-35 18 24  102
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Percentages: FG-.455, FT-.692. 3-Point Goals:
15-28, .536 (Yarbrough 4-7, Black 1-1, Higgins
3-6, Harris 5-10, Walker 1-2, Woods 0-1, Slay
1-1). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 9 (Black
5, Yarbrough 2, Victor 2). Turnovers: 18
(Yarbrough 4, Harris 3, Victor 3, Black 2,
Hathaway 2, Higgins 2, Baker, Walker). Steals: 10
(Yarbrough 5, Black 3, Higgins, Victor).
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South Florida      41   49  -   90
Tennessee          56   46  -  102
__________________________________
Technical fouls: South Florida 1 (A Jackson).  A:
12,938. Officials: Curtis Shaw, Tom Eades, J.b.
Caldwell.