No. 3 Tennessee trounces Georgia 96-50 to open SEC play

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee is creating quite a home-court advantage at an arena it had trouble filling in the past.

Jordan Bowden scored 20 points off the bench as the third-ranked Volunteers opened Southeastern Conference competition by trouncing Georgia 96-50 on Saturday for their eighth consecutive overall and 17th straight home win.

Tennessee (12-1, 1-0 SEC) hasn’t lost a home game in a full calendar year. The Vols’ last home defeat was a 94-84 setback against Auburn on Jan. 2, 2018.

BIG PICTURE

Georgia: The Bulldogs couldn’t do much of anything against Tennessee’s defense. The Bulldogs shot a season-low 32.1 percent (17 of 53) and were 1 of 20 from 3-point range.

Tennessee: The Vols are off to their best start since winning 16 of their first 17 games in 2007-08. That team went on to earn a No. 1 ranking later that year before finishing 31-5 with an NCAA regional semifinal appearance.

UP NEXT

Georgia hosts Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

Tennessee visits Missouri on Tuesday.