Tennessee pushes past the Wolfpack behind a career night by Josiah-Jordan James

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – The 12th-ranked Tennessee men’s basketball team traveled to the Lone Star State for a neutral site matchup with NC State Saturday night as part of the Hall of Fame Series in San Antonio.

This marks the first meeting against the Wolfpack since the 2017 season.

NC State got on the board first but was quickly followed up by a Zakai Ziegler three-pointer. That set the tone early for what the guard would produce Saturday night. Ziegler set a new season best in scoring with 20 points. He added three rebounds, eight assists, and four steals in 38 minutes of action.

After a fast 11 points in the first 7 minutes of the game by NC State’s DJ Horne the Vols went on to hold Horne to 16 total points on the night.

Dalton Knecht was averaging 18 points a game entering the contest but was held to one field goal. The transfer was 1-7 from the field and 0-1 on three-point attempts.

Tennessee mounted its second-largest lead in the second half at the 12:13 mark off a jumper from Ziegler to make it 55-44. The Wolfpack would later tie the game up at 60 apiece at the 7:17 mark.

NC State then went on a 4:08-minute scoring drought and during that span, UT registered eight points to get ahead 75-67 capped off by a Josiah-Jordan James three-pointer. A bucket that matched a career-high in points for the 5th year with 23 points. James was 6-10 on field goals, 5-7 on three-pointers, and a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. He’d also tack on seven rebounds.

The last time the guard recorded 23 points was at Georgia in the 2022 season.

Tennessee had three players in double-digit scoring including Jahmai Mashack who posted 11 points in 27 minutes of play. The Vols were 43.5% on field goal attempts and 44.4% of three-point tries.

The Vols outrebounded the Wolfpack 40-31, Tobe Awaka had a team-high 12 boards.

The Big Orange would go on to win 79-70 to secure its sixth straight win.

Next, UT returns home for a game against Tarleton State on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

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