STARKVILLE, Miss — Tennessee men's basketball went on the road and beat Mississippi State 72-63 on Wednesday night.
The 19th-ranked Vols came out on fire to start the game. The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead and then Tennessee went on a 14-0 run.
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, who started in place of Olivier Nkamhoua as he will likely miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury, scored the first 4 points of the game. Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James drilled three-pointers during the run. Kennedy Chandler scored during it as well.
The Vols didn't hold the double-digit lead for long. Mississippi State went on an 18-4 run down 23-11. They retook the lead, but Tennessee managed to get back out in front by halftime by a score of 35-33.
The game remained close well into the second half. Tennessee and Mississippi State traded the lead several times.
The game was tied 61-61 with 4:21 to go, Tennessee did enough to close the game out from there. Chandler made a layup, Vescovi hit a three, Zakai Ziegler came in and scored a layup.
The Vols ended the game on an 11-2 run, only allowing Mississippi State two points in the final 4:20 of the game.
Chandler with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. James had 18 points and went 3-6 from the three-point range. Vescovi had 11 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds.
John Fulkerson broke the SEC record for most games played with 153 against Mississippi State.
The Vols win their sixth game in a row in SEC play. They are 17-6 overall with an 8-3 record in the conference.
Their next game is against Vanderbilt on Saturday inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
