Postgame Notes: Vols 64, Mercer 54

Dec. 22, 2014

FOR STARTERS

Tennessee's starters: guard Josh Richardson, guard Kevin Punter, guard Detrick Mostella, forward Armani Moore, forward Willie Carmichael III.
Monday's game marked the first start for Mostella. He is the 10th different Vol to start a game this season and the fourth true freshman to start, joining Carmichael, Jabari McGhee and Tariq Owens.
Tennessee has had seven starting lineups through 10 games.
First basket: Josh Richardson with a mid-range jumper (17:35).
First sub in: Devon Baulkman (16:57)

WITH THE WIN ...

Preserves the Vols' unblemished home record this season (5-0).
Makes Tennessee 88-16 all-time against current members of the Southern Conference.
Gives Donnie Tyndall a 7-1 head coaching record against Southern Conference teams.
Give Tennessee a 2-0 record halfway through its current four-game holiday homestand.

BAULKMAN'S RANGE

Devon Baulkman sunk four 3-pointers to finish with a team-leading and career-best 22 points
Baulkman has scored at least 10 points in three consecutive games.
In those three games, he has made at least two 3-pointers. In the last three games combined, he has shot 8 of 11 from 3-point range.
Baulkman is the second Vol to score at least 20 points in a game this season and is the most points by a Vol this season. Josh Richardson had 20 against Butler (12/14/14).

900-POINT MILESTONE

With 11 points, senior Josh Richardson passed the 900-career-point milestone Monday. He now has 902.
He is looking to become the 47th member of Tennessee's 1,000-Point Club later this season.
Richardson also dealt out a career-high six assists, passing his previous best of five. In the last five games, he has had at least three assists.
He also had a team-leading three steals, the fourth time this season he has had at least three.

BENCH & PAINT SCORING

Tennessee outscored Mercer 33-2 on points off the bench and 26-8 in points scored in the paint.

VOL RUN & MERCER DROUGHT

The Vols held Mercer scoreless for 7:02 in the first half, the second-longest streak UT has held an opponent without a point this season
The Bears did not score from a 3-pointer by Ike Nwamu at 9:49, until a pair of free throws by Nwamu at 2:47
During the last 9:39 of the half, Mercer missed 10 consecutive shots. The Bears did not make a basket until a jumper by Darious Moten with 18:45 in the second half, a total of 10 minutes, 54 seconds without scoring a basket.
The Vols closed the half on a 10-0 run, a 19-2 run overall.
Mercer's 15 points was the fewest points the Vols have allowed in a half since Presbyterian trailed the Vols 43-13 at halftime on Dec. 18, 2012.

FIRST HALF TOTALS

Making all three of his shots -- including a pair of 3-pointers -- Devon Baulkman led the Vols in the first half with eight points.
The Vols made 11 of 19 shots in the half (57.9 percent), while Mercer was 4 of 22 (18.2 percent).
Ike Nwamu scored 13 of Mercer's 15 total points in the half.

UP NEXT: TENNESSEE STATE

The Vols host Tennessee State Saturday, Dec. 27, at at 8:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network).
The Tigers are off to a 2-9 start this season under first-year head coach Dana Ford.
After going 5-25 (4-12 OVC) last year, Tennessee State has been picked to finish sixth in the OVC East Division this season.
The Tigers are led by junior guard Marcus Roper (11.6 ppg) and senior guard Jay Harris (10.9 ppg).
The Volunteers lead the all-time series with Tennessee State 4-0, dating to 1990. All meetings have taken place in Knoxville.
Tennessee defeated the Tigers 88-67 last season on Nov. 22, 2013.

BAULKMAN'S RANGE

Devon Baulkman sunk four 3-pointers to finish with a team-leading and career-best 22 points
Baulkman has scored at least 10 points in three consecutive games.
In those three games, he has made at least two 3-pointers. In the last three games combined, he has shot 8 of 11 from 3-point range.
Baulkman is the second Vol to score at least 20 points in a game this season and is the most points by a Vol this season. Josh Richardson had 20 against Butler (12/14/14).

900-POINT MILESTONE

With 11 points, senior Josh Richardson passed the 900-career-point milestone Monday. He now has 902.
He is looking to become the 47th member of Tennessee's 1,000-Point Club later this season.
Richardson also dealt out a career-high six assists, passing his previous best of five. In the last five games, he has had at least three assists.
He also had a team-leading three steals, the fourth time this season he has had at least three.

BENCH & PAINT SCORING

Tennessee outscored Mercer 32-0 on points off the bench and 26-6 in points scored in the paint.
Mercer did most of its scoring from beyond the arc (7 of 19) and from the free-throw line (16 of 25).

University of Tennessee Athletics