Santiago Vescovi notched 14 points, five assists and two steals as No. 22 Tennessee handled visiting South Carolina 66-46 in an SEC contest on Tuesday in Knoxville, Tenn.

Zakai Zeigler (game-best four steals) and Josiah-Jordan James (game-high 12 rebounds) each netted 11 points for the Volunteers (11-4, 2-2 SEC), who remained unbeaten at home this season.

John Fulkerson totaled 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Coming off Saturday's 79-67 loss at then-No. 21 LSU, the Volunteers started quickly in the second half and outscored the Gamecocks 36-22 in the last 20 minutes.

Tennessee, which entered Tuesday allowing just 61.7 points per contest, held South Carolina to 34.7 percent shooting (17-for-49).

The Gamecocks (10-5, 1-2) got a game-high 15 points from James Reese V but failed to win consecutive SEC road games since January of the 2017-18 season.

Erik Stevenson registered five points, six rebounds and two assists.

As it did last Wednesday in its overtime win over Ole Miss, Tennessee started slowly at home, with the visitors leading 8-2 by getting points in transition, including Reese's trey at 15:35.

Zeigler sparked the Vols with a pair of layups and a steal to get the offense going, and the defense continued its intense play in the low-scoring opening half.

James' 3-pointer at the buzzer concluded an 11-3 run and left the Vols with a 30-24 halftime lead.

After missing 14 of its 37 free throws Saturday, Tennessee again struggled at the stripe in the first half. The Vols went just 9-for-18 at the line while shooting 40.9 percent from the field.

Zeigler led the way with seven points, while James and Kennedy Chandler tallied six each.

Reese topped the Gamecocks with 10 points, but they were only 9 of 24 from the field (37.5 percent).

In the second half's first six minutes, Tennessee made seven of its first 13 shot attempts, forced five turnovers and raced out on a 15-5 run to lead 45-29.

The Vols never looked back from there and improved to 30-9 at home against South Carolina.

--Field Level Media