By SCOTT FELTS
No. 8 Tennessee opened Year 12 of the Rick Barnes era the way a lot of title-contending teams open: ugly, then overwhelming.
The Vols led by only three at halftime after shooting a season-opening 41.4% from the floor in the first 20 minutes, and watched Wofford, a Southern Conference team that fell to Tennessee 77-62 in last year’s NCAA Tournament, hang around like it belonged.
Then the second half happened.
Tennessee outscored the Terriers 56-28 after the break, including a 36-10 run across the first 14 minutes, and turned a three-point game into a 31-point laugher at Food City Center in front of 18,389 fans.
Let’s go Beyond the Box Score to see how it broke down.
Brown’s Double-Double Debut
DeWayne Brown II, the team’s only returning post player, announced himself as the anchor of this new-look frontcourt with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 17 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. That’s not a stat line; that’s a foundation.
He threw down an emphatic dunk in the first five minutes, grabbed everything that came off the rim, and turned the paint into a no-fly zone. Wofford managed just 24 points in the paint all night against him and Miles Rubin.
Hill’s Healthy Return
Terrence Hill Jr. came off the bench as Barnes opted to start Dai Dai Ames, Tyler Lundblade, Jalen Haralson, Brown, and Rubin, holding out both Hill and Wake Forest transfer Juke Harris. Guess what? Hill still dropped 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting.
The kicker: Harris missed all six of his three-point attempts and still scored that many, going 5-for-5 from the line with three assists, two rebounds, and two steals in 21 minutes.
Back from the ankle injury that nagged him in the preseason, Hill played like the reigning A-10 Sixth Man of the Year he is.
Lundblade’s Long-Range Welcome
In his Tennessee debut, Lundblade knocked down four 3-pointers in nine attempts for 12 total points, also totaling three rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes. He got it going immediately with two treys before the first media timeout. When a shooter that elite is on the floor, everything else opens up, and the Vols’ offense looked noticeably more dangerous with him spacing the floor.
The 18-2 Avalanche
Tennessee couldn’t pull away in the first half, but it came out of the locker room firing with an 18-2 run sparked by six different contributors.
Lundblade’s 3 opened it, then the Vols had seven straight makes with just one Wofford basket sprinkled in, part of a 9-for-14 stretch pushed the lead to 54-36, and it stuck the rest of the way.
The Vols shot 61% from the floor in the second half. Wofford shot 16.7%. That gap is the entire game.
Lowe’s Night in the Wilderness
Wofford’s leading scorer, Cam Lowe, finished with 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting, including 2-of-7 from 3, with four rebounds in 27 minutes.
He had his moments, as he was the only Terrier who consistently created his own shot, and even that wasn’t enough. Lowe’s 14 points represented nearly a quarter of Wofford’s entire output. When your best player is 5-for-13 and your next two scorers combine for 20 on 6-of-18 shooting, the math does the talking.
“Supporting: Cast
Chris Arias added 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting, also 2-of-7 from deep, while Cutter Sisk chipped in 10 on 2-of-8 from the field but went 5-of-9 from the line. Sisk’s efficiency from the stripe was Wofford’s best free-throw work of the night as the Terriers shot just 65.2% as a team from the charity stripe, a brutal number in a game where every possession mattered.
Arias and Sisk combined for 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting. That’s not a supporting cast; that’s a supporting cast on vacation.
The Free-Throw Chasm
Tennessee went 15-for-16 from the line for 93.8%, an absurd number, while Wofford managed 15-for-23 at 65.2%. In a game decided by 31 points, that gap alone accounts for a meaningful chunk of the margin. The Vols were clinical at the stripe; the Terriers were charitable, in the worst sense.
Bench Production
The Vols got 41 bench points to Wofford’s 24. Hill, Harris, Troy Henderson, and the rest of the second unit outscored Wofford’s reserves by 17. Harris scored all seven of his points in the second half with four rebounds and two assists. Henderson added 10. This roster is deep, and Barnes has the luxury of rolling waves of contributors.
The Tale of Two Halves
Tennessee led just 2:17 in the first half. Wofford’s biggest lead was three points. There were two lead changes and four ties. It was a coin flip for 20 minutes, and then it wasn’t. The Vols led for 33:20 of the game, and their biggest lead was 32. The first half looked like the exhibition losses to Xavier and Duke. The second half looked like a top-10 team.
Tip Ins
Brown and Henderson are the only returnees on the Tennessee roster. … Wofford shot 22.2% from three (6-of-27) and 30.6% from the field overall. … Tennessee’s 52 points in the paint more than doubled Wofford’s 24. … The Vols had 27 fast-break points to Wofford’s six. … Second-chance points favored Tennessee 14-6, despite Wofford grabbing 13 offensive rebounds to Tennessee’s 11. … Tennessee scored 14 off of the Terriers’ 12 turnovers.
Up Next
Tennessee hosts Radford on Monday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.