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Tennessee decks Alabama State

Alabama State forward Brandon Battle (14) has his shot blocked by Tennessee guard Jordan Bowden (23) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019, in Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee guard Yves Pons (35) is behind. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Alabama State forward Brandon Battle (14) has his shot blocked by Tennessee guard Jordan Bowden (23) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019, in Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee guard Yves Pons (35) is behind. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee's stingy defense made up for its own poor outside shooting as the Volunteers had no trouble extending the longest active Division I home winning streak.

Jordan Bowden scored 16 points Wednesday night to help No. 20 Tennessee trounce Alabama State 76-41 for its 29th consecutive home victory.

Tennessee (4-0) shot 6 of 21 from three-point range but held Alabama State (0-4) without a basket for the final 9 minutes, 39 seconds of the game.

"There's going to be nights like that when we can't put the ball in the basket, but we've got to stop them from putting the ball in the basket as well," said Tennessee's Josiah-Jordan James, who shot 1 of 7 but had 13 rebounds. "I feel like our struggles on offense kind of lit a fire in us defensively to stop them from scoring."

Tennessee's defense even held Alabama State's offense in check after the Vols emptied their bench. The Hornets shot 28% (14 of 50) overall and 16.7% (4 of 24) in the second half.

"When you're playing a team as long as Tennessee from the point guard down to the five man, it's difficult for our guys to get shots off," Alabama State Coach Lewis Jackson said.

Lamonte' Turner added 13 points and six assists for Tennessee. Turner is averaging 8.5 assists this season and entered the night ranked second among all Division I players in that category.

Bowden and Turner also became the 51st and 52nd Tennessee players to join the 1,000-point club. Bowden has 1,011 career points, while Turner has 1,002.

"Their growth has been amazing," Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes said. "Both of them are really hard-working great people, the kind of people you want to be around every day. I don't know if they ever have a bad day."

Yves Pons scored 11 points and John Fulkerson added 10 for Tennessee. Alabama State's Tobi Ewuosho led all scorers with 17 points.

The Hornets stayed close early thanks to Tennessee's struggles from long range. After Bowden made Tennessee's first three-point attempt of the night, the Vols missed their next eight shots from beyond the arc.

Tennessee led 16-15 before outscoring Alabama State 18-8 to end the first half. Tennessee then scored nine of the first 11 points in the second half and never looked back.

NO. 2 LOUISVILLE 76,

SOUTH CAROLINA-UPSTATE 50

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Ryan McMahon made consecutive three-pointers and Dwayne Sutton and Darius Perry had one each during a second-half surge that rallied No. 2 Louisville past South Carolina-Upstate.

Trailing the determined Spartans 43-40 with 14:07 remaining, Sutton's three-pointer tied it before McMahon added one after a huge block of Josh Aldrich's layup attempt. McMahon and Perry followed again from long range, and the Cardinals (5-0) turned up the intensity on both ends for a 24-5 burst.

Jordan Nwora had two three-pointers among his 28 points. The Cardinals finished 51% from the field and have shot above 50% in each game this season.

McMahon finished with 15 points on five three-pointers, his last ones helping Louisville avoid the upset. The Cardinals were 9 of 21 from behind the arc.

Bryson Mozone's 14 points on four three-pointers led Upstate (1-5), which was 9 of 24 from long range.

NO. 5 NORTH CAROLINA 75,

ELON 61

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Armando Bacot had season highs of 22 points and 14 rebounds and the fifth-ranked Tar Heels beat Elon.

Cole Anthony finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and a season-high eight assists for North Carolina (4-0).

Garrison Brooks added 14 points for the Tar Heels -- 30½-point favorites who a year ago beat Elon on the road by 49 points. They trailed at halftime for the second time this season before opening the second half with a Bacot-led 21-5 run that pushed the lead over 10 points, and wound up outrebounding Elon 56-25.

Marcus Sheffield scored 19 points for the Phoenix (2-3), who lost their third in a row -- all to power-conference schools -- while shooting 28% in the second half. Hunter Woods added 18 and his three-pointer with 2½ minutes left pulled Elon to 68-61. Bacot followed with two buckets to re-establish the Tar Heels' 10-point lead.

Sports on 11/21/2019

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