Local Teams

The 18th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers hung on to beat Mississippi State 56-53 to end their two-game Southeastern Conference losing streak Tuesday night in Knoxville, Tenn.

Leading the Vols (11-3, 5-3) in scoring was Yves Pons. Pons, who sat out most of the first half in foul trouble, finished with 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting. But with 2:16 left in the game, he picked up his fifth foul.

Jaden Springer, who sat out the last two games with an ankle injury, returned for Tennessee and responded with nine points, four rebounds and five assists.

John Fulkerson, who entered the game leading the Volunteers in scoring with 11.8 points per game, was held to four points and four rebounds.

All nine players who took the floor scored for Tennessee.

Mississippi State (9-8, 4-5) hung with the Vols the entire second half but missed a couple of baskets and free throws late.

Two free throws by Tennessee's Santiago Vescovi with 12 seconds to go sealed the win.

Iverson Molinar led Mississippi State with 16 points. D.J. Stewart added 11 points.

The Bulldogs were playing their second straight game against a ranked opponent, having lost to No. 9 Alabama on Saturday.

Neither team was red-hot from the field as the Volunteers shot 37 percent and the Bulldogs 32.7 percent. They were much worse from behind the 3-point line, as the Vols hit 3 of 19 and the Bulldogs 3 of 13.

Neither team was especially careful with the ball, either. Mississippi State turned it over 18 times and the Vols 11 times.

Mississippi State held a 42-30 rebounding edge but was outscored in the paint 32-18.

The Vols came out hot on both defense and offense -- Mississippi State didn't get its first points until the 16:40 mark in the first half, while Tennessee was able to jump to a 15-4 lead at the 13:04 mark.

But then Tennessee got sloppy and went over five minutes without a field goal and allowed the Bulldogs to pull back within three at 18-15 with just under eight minutes left. When Abdul Ado scored from the paint at the 5:19 mark, the score was tied at 20.

Both teams looked ragged from that point until the end of the half, but the Vols stumbled to a 26-23 halftime lead. The Bulldogs shot 33.3 percent from the floor (1 of 8 on 3-point attempts), while the Volunteers hit 30.8 percent and 1 of 11 from beyond the arc.

Stewart led all scorers with nine points in the half.

Both teams will step out of conference on Saturday. Mississippi State will host Iowa State, while Tennessee will host 15th-ranked Kansas in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

--Field Level Media