Tennessee Tops UNC-Asheville

Tennessee coach Jerry Green will take another victory, especially against his former school, but he's not happy with how the Vols got this one.

"I was not pleased for the entire game with our offense," he said Wednesday night after No. 17 Tennessee beat UNC-Asheville, 79-63.

Tennessee (2-0) did manage to turn up the offense late in the first half and go on a 10-4 run over the first six minutes of the second half to finally put the Bulldogs (0-3) away.

But the Vols finished the half with a pair of 8-1 runs, the first capped by Vincent Yarbrough's dunk at 6:31 that made it 31-24. The second run, to close out the half, ended on two Tony Harris free throws which gave the Vols a 43-36 lead at the break.

"Coach brought us in at the half and said if we didn't stop this, we'll lose," Yarbrough said.

The Vols' held UNC-Asheville to just 35 percent from the field in the second half.

Tennessee extended its home non-conference winning streak to 17 games, dating back to 1996. Green improved to 2-0 against UNC-Asheville, where he spent 13 years as a player, assistant coach and nine years as a head coach.

"They got the last few buckets of the first half and the last few buckets of the second half," said Bulldog coach Eddie Biedenbach. "It was a closer game than it appeared."

Isiah Victor scored 18 points for Tennessee, and Yarbrough and Tony Harris both finished with 13 points..

John Risinger led UNC-Asheville with 17 points, while Matt Osikowicz finished with 10.

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