Terrence Hill Jr., Vols attack the lane in season-opening win over Wofford

In an era where basketball fans have fallen in love with the 3-point shot and flashier styles of play, the old, tried-and-true method still works. It played out well for Tennessee men’s basketball in Tuesday night’s season-opening win.

No. 8 Tennessee defeated Wofford 90-59 after a first half that saw a team still trying to establish its identity. The Vols hit four of their 12 3-point attempts before the break, with Tyler Lundblade making three of five, and took just a 34-31 lead into the locker room.

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Overall, the shots weren’t falling the way Tennessee wanted, not even for guard Terrence Hill Jr., who finished the night 0-for-6 from beyond the arc.

One thing that worked for Hill and the rest of the team was getting downhill to the paint. Hill tied DeWayne Brown II for the team lead with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, going 6-of-7 inside the arc. He drew contact on his drives and added a 5-for-5 night from the free-throw line.

Hill did it in different ways. He scored 11 points in the first half, five of them at the line, including an and-one in transition. After the break, he did all of his damage in the open floor, scoring six points on three transition buckets, one of them off his own steal. Every one of his 17 points came at the rim, in the midrange or at the stripe.

Nov 3, 2026; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes instructs his team during the first half against the Wofford Terriers at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“Well, I told him I like that better than the threes,” head coach Rick Barnes said. “He’s going to make threes. I mean, we need to attack, put pressure on the rim, and you can do that in a variety of ways. But we need that out of him. And he’s slippery.”

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Barnes believes the ceiling is high if Hill commits to the other end of the floor. It will always go back to defense for the head coach, and nothing would excite him…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/terrence-hill-jr-vols-attack-003334208.html

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Publish date : 2026-11-05 00:33:00

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