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No. 9 Tennessee Pulls Away From Pesky Wyoming
December 15 - Knoxville, TN (Sports Network) - Scotty Hopson led the way with 14 points, as ninth-ranked Tennessee defeated the Wyoming Cowboys, 77-58, at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Wayne Chism scored 13 points and Tyler Smith added 10 points and six assists for the Volunteers (8-1), who have won four straight games. Brian Williams registered nine points with seven rebounds and Bobby Maze added nine points in the win.
Afam Muojeke netted a game-high 15 points, but also committed 10 turnovers for the Cowboys (5-5), who kept the contest close in the first half but fell apart in the second and saw their three-game win streak halted. A.J. Davis tallied nine points and seven rebounds in the losing effort for Wyoming, which committed 29 turnovers and shot 5-of-19 from the field in the second half.
Tennessee held a 42-41 lead at the start of the second half, but slowly increased its advantage as the stanza unfolded. Shortly after a bucket by Cameron Tatum gave the Vols a 44-43 lead just over one minute into the half, a running layup through the lane by Smith pushed the advantage to 52-47 with 15:40 to go.
Muojeke, though, answered with a floater from the lane that drew the visitors within three.
From there, Tennessee scored seven straight points. The spurt was capped by a Melvin Goins fadeaway jumper from along the left baseline as the Vols led, 59-49, with 13:25 remaining in regulation. A pair of foul shots by Maze allowed the hosts to maintain their double-digit lead, 61-51, with under 12 minutes on the clock.
Wyoming never posed a serious threat the rest of the way and was unable to cut into its deficit. The victory was all but sealed when Hopson threw down an emphatic dunk that gave Tennessee a 71-55 advantage with 4:40 to play.
Tennessee has won all three of its meetings with Wyoming...The Vols improved to 5-0 at home this season...On Saturday, Tennessee will face Southern California in an SEC versus Pac-10 showdown in Los Angeles...Wyoming won the battle on the glass, 36-31...The Vols shot 47.6 percent from the field (30-of-63), while Wyoming ended with a 17-for-45 effort...The teams combined to go 8-for-41 from three-point range.
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