Tennessee 64, Xavier 49: Jarnell Stokes scored a season-high 20 points as the Volunteers avenged a loss earlier this month to the Musketeers in a consolation game at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
Jordan McRae contributed a season-low 16 points and Jeronne Maymon added 14 for Tennessee (4-2), which opened its season with a 67-63 loss at Xavier on Nov. 12. The Volunteers will face Wake Forest in the fifth-place game on Saturday.
One day after being sidelined with leg cramps for most of the second half in Thursday’s loss to Iowa, Xavier leading scorer Semaj Christon was held to four points – 12 below his season average. Matt Stainbrook led the way with 10 points for the Musketeers (5-2), who will meet the USC on Saturday for seventh place.
Tennessee began to pull away midway through the first half, getting a 3-pointer from Robert Hubbs III to spark a 7-0 run over a 1:07 stretch that turned a two-point lead into a 23-14 advantage. The Volunteers increased the margin to 13 by the break and put the game away with eight straight points after intermission to expand the margin to 47-26.
With Christon limited and no one else able to pick up the slack, Xavier could get no closer than 15 points thereafter. The Musketeers were held to a season-low point total and are shooting 28.5 percent beyond the arc at this event.
GAME NOTEBOOK: McRae had led the team in scoring in each of the previous five games. … Xavier finished 3-of-10 from the foul line – its worst such performance since a 3-for-14 effort against Cincinnati last December. … The Volunteers improved to 12-5 all-time against the Musketeers and have won five of the last six in the series.
Xavier | Tennessee | |
Matt Stainbrook 10 | Scoring | Jarnell Stokes 20 |
Dee Davis 2 | Assists | Jarnell Stokes 3 |
James Farr 6 | Rebounds | Jarnell Stokes 10 |
Isaiah Philmore 2 | Free Throws Made | Jarnell Stokes 6 |
Dee Davis 2 | Steals | Jeronne Maymon 3 |
Semaj Christon 1 | Blocks | Jeronne Maymon 1 |