Tennessee Snaps Stegeman Skid with Second-Half Rebound at Georgia

ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia guard Kario Oquendo took off and never looked back.

He extended his right arm, towering over Santiago Vescovi as he flew, and slammed a vicious one-handed tomahawk dunk that brought Stegeman Coliseum to its feet in Tuesday night's first half.

The moment provided a SportsCenter-worthy highlight to punctuate the Bulldogs' dreary regular season with a bit of excitement -- but it was Josiah-Jordan James and No. 13 Tennessee (22-7) who got the last laugh.

James went on an 8-0 second-half run, John Fulkerson knocked down a pair of crucial jumpers late, and the Vols picked up a previously sluggish defense to spoil Georgia's (6-24) Senior Day with a 75-68 win.

The victory snaps a five-game Athens losing streak for Tennessee, which entered Tuesday's game with a Stegeman skid dating back to 2011.

Here are a few takeaways from the win:

James goes off

With Tennessee and Georgia tied at 41, Josiah-Jordan James broke the stalemate with a floater.

Then he hit a three. And then he nailed another one.

The Charleston native created separation for the Vols, and he hit three free throws late to accumulate 14 second-half points in total.

James finished with 23 points, a new career-high, to go with eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

"Really important," Rick Barnes said of James. "I thought his command on the court was really good. Not only did he score well, he rebounded well and had a couple of blocks."

Fulkerson finishes the job

With 6:05 to go, Dalen Ridgnal hit a jumper to trim Tennessee's lead to four.

John Fulkerson responded with a turnaround floater, and he connected on another going into a media timeout.

The Vols' sixth-year senior scored 12, eight in the second half on 3-of-3 shooting, and he solidified the win at the charity stripe.

Chandler and Vescovi provide sparks

Kennedy Chandler has stayed relatively consistent since Tennessee's loss to Texas, and that remained the case Tuesday.

The freshman split his 16 points equally between two halves, and he added two assists and four steals with four turnovers.

Vescovi, meanwhile, notched 11 points to round out UT's double-digit scoring. Nine of those points came in the first half, as Vescovi nailed three triples in the early going.

BHH disappears, though free throws make the difference

In Tennessee's win over Auburn, freshman Brandon Huntley-Hatfield had his most complete game as a Vol: five points, an assist and a whopping eight rebounds.

But the Bulldogs found a way to neutralize UT's newest threat, limiting him to four points on 1-of-4 shooting from the floor with a pair of free throws.

As mentioned, though, he wasn't the only Vol to find success at the line.

Tennessee finished 13-of-15 at the stripe, making 11 of 13 in the second half.

Big Dance reinforcement

Since the Vols dismantled Auburn on Saturday, they get a double bye in next week's SEC Tournament in Tampa.

With this feat cemented, Tuesday's game didn't matter quite as much as it could have otherwise.

What this win did do, however, was reinforce this team's resiliency -- at least after an early scare.

Cover photo via Jake Nichols