#22 Tennessee shut down South Carolina for a 66-46 win in Knoxville.

Entering the game, there were two things Frank Martin wanted the Gamecocks to do: cut down on turnovers and cut down on fouls. They did neither.

South Carolina’s first three possessions ended in turnovers. South Carolina had already been whistled for three fouls before it scored a point.

An early 8-0 run gave South Carolina a 8-2 lead, but Tennessee answered with an 11-2 run. The teams went back and forth for a while, and Jacobi Wright gave South Carolina a 21-19 lead with a three with 3:23 left in the first half. But another Tennessee run, this time 11-3, put the Volunteers in control at halftime and they never looked back in the second half.

Tennessee opened up a 16-point lead early in the second half, and South Carolina could never get closer than 10 after that. Every time the Gamecocks had a chance, there was a turnover, missed free throw, or foul.

“We’ve got to eliminate the turnovers,” Martin said. “I’ve never been in this predicament where a team turns it over so many times. Some of it is just nonsense and lackadaisical passing.”

Against Vanderbilt, South Carolina shot the ball well enough to stay in the game despite the turnovers, but that wasn’t the case against Tennessee, which has the nation’s third-ranked defense. South Carolina shot 34.7% from the floor and missed eight straight shot attempts in the final five minutes of the game, before Brandon Martin scored with 11 seconds left. Tennessee protected the defensive glass, giving up just six second chance points on 10 offensive rebounds, despite 32 misses by South Carolina.

Throw in the 23 turnovers, which lead to 21 Volunteer points, and the 20 fouls, and there was little hope of ever getting into an offensive flow.

“Of course they were defending us, but we had a lot of self-inflicted wounds that we’ve got to get better at,” James Reese said. “We’ve just got to be the players that got us here, we don’t have to do anything crazy.”

Reese led South Carolina with 15 points, but he was the only Gamecock to score more than seven points.

“We’ve just got to be better. There’s really no excuses,” Reese said. “We’ve just got to be better.”

Santiago Vescovi led Tennessee with 14 points, and four Volunteers reached double figures. Josiah-Jordan James had 11 points and 12 rebounds, and made a contested no-look three going into halftime that provided a big spark.

Notes:

Tennessee wasn’t that much better offensively. The Vols shot just 43.6% and turned the ball over 15 times. … Tennessee entered the game shooting 37.5% from three in wins and 20% in losses. The Vols split the difference, shooting 33.3%. … The free throw shooting was abysmal. South Carolina was 6-17 from the line and Tennessee was 11-25. South Carolina had just 10 assists, giving them a dismal 1:2 assist to turnover ratio. … Announced attendance was 15,262. … South Carolina’s next game is Saturday against Florida.

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