| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
BAYAMON, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Tennessee coach Jerry Green knew
what to expect when his Volunteers (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP) took the floor
against Division II American University of Puerto Rico. He got it.
The Volunteers had six players score in double figures and had
no player go longer than 21 minutes in cruising to a 102-58 victory
Tuesday night in the opening round of the Puerto Rico Holiday
Classic.
"It's like those guarantee games you get early in the season," he said. "You get to play a lot of people and it's good to get some of those kids playing time but we are looking forward to playing our next game."
The Volunteers (10-0) will play Southern Illinois, a 65-63
winner over Massachusetts, in Wednesday night's semifinals.
Marcus Haislip had 17 points to lead Tennessee, which was
playing without starting forward C.J. Black. He sat out the game as
a suspension after he was ejected for fighting in the Volunteers'
previous game against Memphis. His 7.0 points and 6.9 rebounds weren't
missed against the Pirates (0-6), the host school which had no
chance against the size and speed of Tennessee.
"That was about as good a game as we could have had for C.J. to
miss," Green said. "Our defense will be different inside with him
back."
The huge victory was the second in two nights for a Southeastern
Conference school against one from Puerto Rico. Seventh-ranked
Auburn beat Puerto Rico-Mayaguez 109-52 Monday night in the opening
round of the San Juan Shootout.
American was within 8-7 4½ minutes into the game when the
steal-and-dunk fest began.
Tony Harris and Vincent Yarbrough did it on consecutive
possessions to make it 17-7 and then Haislip did it himself on
consecutive possessions to make it 26-9 with 12:03 left in the
half.
The Volunteers led 48-23 at halftime after forcing 25 turnovers
and shooting 55 percent (22-for-40), while holding American to 39
percent (7-for-18).
"I think we played good," Harris said. "We executed our
offense and played solid defense. We started a little slow then got
things going."
The lead reached 57-27 within the first three minutes of the
second half and the biggest it got was 90-40 with 7:13 to play on a
layup by Ron Slay.
Harris, who played the most minutes at 21, had 14 points,
Yarbrough added 13, Charles Hathaway had 12, Slay 11 and Del Baker
10.
Jesus Rodriguez had 17 points and Joseph Rodriguez added 15 for
the Pirates, who finished with 40 turnovers.
"That is a good experience for us," American coach Rafael
Torres said. "They are very good and fast and can shoot and
rebound. They are a complete team and our goal is to one day beat a
team like that."
| |
ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Tennessee Clubhouse
|
