Cameron Tatum scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half as host Tennessee erased a nine-point deficit and defeated UNC Asheville 72-68 on Tuesday.

Asheville, which fell to 0-8 all time against the Volunteers, had a seemingly comfortable 51-42 lead after J.P. Primm (game-high 25 points) knocked down a 3-pointer with 14:33 remaining.

But the Bulldogs (6-5) went the next 9:11 without hitting a field goal to open the door for the Volunteers (4-6). Tatum had seven points during a 14-4 run as the hosts took their first lead of the second half at 56-55.

The teams went back and forth for the next 2:30 before Tennessee grabbed the lead for good at 61-59 on another 3-pointer from Tatum.

Asheville had two chances to tie the game with less than a minute to play, but Chris Stephenson and Primm both went 1-of-2 on trips to the free throw line.

The Bulldogs came out red-hot in the opening minutes, hitting eight of their first nine field goals in grabbing an 18-14 lead on a 3-pointer by Jeremy Atkinson at the 10:37 mark.

Tennessee’s largest first-half deficit was 28-17 after Jon Nwannunu hit two free throws with five minutes left. Renaldo Woolridge came off the bench to score 13 of his 17 points in the first half to pull the Volunteers to within 35-32 at halftime.