'Team' Tennessee Handles State Behind 11-2 Run To End Game

No. 19 Tennessee was without starting junior forward Olivier Nkamhoua because of an ankle injury suffered Saturday that ended his season, but the team took over in a 72-63 win at Mississippi State on Wednesday night.

Freshman guard Kennedy Chandler scored 18 points with five rebounds, five steals and three assists, and junior guard Josiah-Jordan James also scored 18 as the Volunteers (17-6, 8-3 SEC) won their third straight in front of 7,014 at Humphrey Coliseum. Guard Santiago Vescovi added 11 points with seven assists and five rebounds.

Freshman Brandon Huntley-Hartfield started for Nkamhoua, who was averaging 8.6 points and 5.6 rebounds with 25 blocked shots through 22 starts. Huntley-Hartfield scored just four points in 14 minutes, but he had the backing of his teammates.

"We had thought of a lot of different combinations," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. "We really put a lot of thought into it. But to be quite honest with you, Josiah, Santi, those guys, they told Brandon, 'We're going to tell coach to start you.' I like that those guys did that. That's what I like about this group. Now, they're starting to take ownership. It's their team."

Guard Zakai Zeigler added 11 points and five steals off the bench and made 6-of-6 free throws. Four of those came over the last 47 seconds.

"When they start talking and making suggestions like that, it gives you really nice feelings as a coaching staff," Barnes said.

Mississippi State's Cameron Matthews hit a layup with 4:20 to go for a 61-61 tie, but Tennessee scored 11 of the game's next 13 points. Chandler hit a layup, followed by a Vescovie 3-pointer off an assist by Zeigler, who closed the game with a layup and the four free throws.

Iverson Molinar led State (14-9, 5-5) with 16 points, and Garrison Brooks added 15.

In other games Wednesday, Florida won its fourth straight, 72-63 at home over Georgia and Alabama won 97-83 at Ole Miss behind career highs from Jaden Shackelford in points (30) and 3-pointers (8).

SATURDAY'S GAMES (All times eastern)

Texas A&M (15-9, 4-7) at No. 1 Auburn (22-2, 10-1), Noon, ESPN

Arkansas (19-5, 8-3) at Alabama (15-9, 5-6), Noon, SEC Network

South Carolina (13-10, 4-7) at Georgia (6-18, 1-10), 2 p.m., SEC Network

Florida (16-8, 6-5) at No. 5 Kentucky (20-4, 9-2), 4 p.m., ESPN

Vanderbilt (13-10, 5-6) at No. 19 Tennessee (17-6, 8-3), 6 p.m., SEC Network

Mississippi State (14-9, 5-5) at LSU (17-7, 5-6), 8 p.m., ESPN2

Ole Miss (12-12, 3-8) at Missouri (9-14, 3-7), 8:30 p.m., SEC Network

Written by
Guilbeau joined OutKick as an SEC columnist in September of 2021 after covering LSU and the Saints for 17 years at USA TODAY Louisiana. He has been a national columnist/feature writer since the summer of 2022, covering college football, basketball and baseball with some NFL, NBA, MLB, TV and Movies and general assignment, including hot dog taste tests. A New Orleans native and Mizzou graduate, he has consistently won Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) awards since covering Alabama and Auburn at the Mobile Press-Register (1993-98) and LSU and the Saints at the Baton Rouge Advocate (1998-2004). In 2021, Guilbeau won an FWAA 1st for a game feature, placed in APSE Beat Writing, Breaking News and Explanatory, and won Beat Writer of the Year from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA). He won an FWAA columnist 1st in 2017 and was FWAA's top overall winner in 2016 with 1st in game story, 2nd in columns, and features honorable mention. Guilbeau completed a book in 2022 about LSU's five-time national champion coach - "Everything Matters In Baseball: The Skip Bertman Story" - that is available at www.acadianhouse.com, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble outlets. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, the former Michelle Millhollon of Thibodaux who previously covered politics for the Baton Rouge Advocate and is a communications director.