Tennessee rallies late but falls to Vanderbilt 86-82 on Senior Day

Tennessee finished their 2025-26 regular season on a down note on Sunday in Knoxville, losing 86-82 to the Vanderbilt Commodores on Senior Day.

Amari Evans had a big game in place of Nate Ament with 24 points and six rebounds on 9-12 shooting. Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 17 points and four assists but also had five turnovers. Felix Okpara had 8 points and 10 rebounds.

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The first half was an absolute slog on the offensive end of the floor. Tennessee fell behind from the jump 11-0, and they never caught up again, trailing the rest of the way. At one point, Tennessee had six turnovers and 11 points around midway through the first half. They’d stay at that pace and finish the first half down 32-22 in the lowest offensive first half output of the season, per the broadcast.

Vanderbilt pushed their lead out in a big way right out of the halftime locker room, seemingly burying the Vols with a flurry. Tyler Tanner knocked down a three for the half’s first points, and with Tennessee down 46-34, he knocked down another three and followed shortly after with two free throws to put the Commodores in full command up 51-34 with a little over 13 minutes left.

However, Tennessee chipped away and cut the lead to 69-64 with around 5 minutes left in the game when Evans hit a three from the top of the key that sent the crowd into a frenzy and fully swung the momentum into Tennessee’s favor.

But when the Vols needed a stop late, it didn’t come, and Chandler Bing (no, not that Chandler Bing you’re thinking of) knocked down a three to put the lead back to eight, and, who else, Tanner followed with a layup to put the Dores back in control of the game again.

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Tennessee did make in interesting in the final minutes. Down 82-78, Tennessee forced a turnover near their bench. Gillespie got the ball near the wing and put up a three pointer with under 30 seconds left that would have really put the pressure on, but it clanged off, Vandy got the rebound, and they stayed multiple…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/tennessee-rallies-falls-vanderbilt-86-223745821.html

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Publish date : 2026-03-07 22:37:00

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