No. 11 Tennessee men’s basketball hosted Tennessee State inside Food City Center. The Vols made their way through a foul-ridden game to take an 83-78 win. The Tigers came into Knoxville and wanted to be the aggressor.

Knoxville’s own Deondrea Lindsey drained a 3-pointer for TSU to start the game. It was a shaky start for the Volunteers, as early foul trouble set in. DeWayne Brown II picked up two fouls in the first two minutes. A Dai Dai Ames 3-pointer finally put the Vols on the board after TSU’s 5-0 start with 17:08 on the clock.

The Tigers played Tennessee tough on both ends early. TSU crashed the offensive boards, forcing an out-of-position Tennessee into more fouls. Miles Rubin also picked up two early fouls. Just seven minutes in, the Tigers led 11-5. 

Ames then took over with an 8-0 run to give Tennessee the lead, but a Presley Patterson 3-pointer put the Tigers back in front. TSU kept getting into Tennessee’s space, and the Vols’ fouls kept mounting, including Brown’s third of the half. Ty-Laur Johnson scored 10 first-half points, eight from the charity stripe.

With 8:20 left in the half, Terrence Hill Jr. drew an and-one on a 3-pointer against Lindsey and converted to tie the game at 23. Hill then hit another 3-pointer to put the Vols up three. 

The Vols’ offense picked up, highlighted by a Juke Harris 3-pointer with 4:54 left in the half. 

Meanwhile, TSU’s offense stalled; for a five-and-a-half-minute stretch, the Tigers scored only at the free throw line. For Tennessee, Jalen Haralson scored five of his nine first-half points at the line, and Tennessee took a 42-37 lead into the break.

The Vols opened the second half with a run, building a 51-40 lead by the 15:25 timeout. During that stretch, Hill hit another 3-pointer, while Harris and Haralson got to the rim. After scoring his first five points at the line, Tyler Lundblade hit his first field goal, a 3-pointer. He found most of his success putting the ball on the floor and attacking the lane. He finished with 14 points while hitting 9-of-9 from the free throw line.

Brown struggled. He picked up his fourth foul minutes into the second half and fouled out with 9:24 left. With Brown limited, Braedan Lue played heavy minutes and, along with Harris, gave Tennessee a lift on the boards. Lue also threw down several dunks.

Midway through the second half, the Tigers put together a 6-0 run to cut the Vols’ lead to 58-49. Undisciplined play crept back in as Tennessee got sloppy with the ball, gave up rebounds and saw Haralson pick up his fourth foul. He returned to the game later and finished with 15 points but fouled out. When he stays on the floor and attacks the rim, he’s as solid as they come.

Hill finished with a team-high 19 points, five rebounds, five assists and a steal. Harris led Tennessee with 10 rebounds. Ames finished with 11 points, all in the first half.

The Vols, however, lost the rebounding battle 45-43, with the Tigers grabbing 24 offensive rebounds. TSU's Johnson finished with a game-high 22 points.

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