When Kansas made a visit to Knoxville to tangle with Tennessee’s men’s basketball team, both squads had recent struggles.
So something had to give.
On Saturday night, the No. 18 Volunteers routed No. 15 Kansas, 80-61, in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Tennessee (12-3) made 5-of-7 shots from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half en route to opening a 40-26 lead at half time.
From there, the Big Orange never looked back against Kansas (11-6), which has now lost four of its last five games.
The Vols, on the other hand, have won two straight after suffering consecutive losses to Florida and Missouri.
Against the Jayhawks, Tennessee had four players post double figures in the scoring column.
Yves Pons led the way with 17 points. He had 10 points over first 20 minutes. Jaden Springer had 13, while John Fulkerson and Victor Bailey Jr. scored 11 points each.
Tennessee finished the game 8-for-13 from long range and made 17-of-18 from the free throw line. The Vols shot 52.8 percent from the floor.
David McCormack scored 17 points to pace Kansas.
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