No. 21 Tennessee men’s basketball smothers No. 3 Kansas to win Battle 4 Atlantis title
Santiago Vescovi cheered. Phillips bellowed.
Tennessee basketball led Kansas 62-48 with barely a minute to play and its defense was still going. Slap any verb you want on it: No. 21 Tennessee (5-1) smothered, shut down, stifled, stopped and smacked No. 3 Kansas (6-1) to claim the Battle 4 Atlantis with a 64-50 win.
Vescovi had a team-high 20 points for the Vols, who won three games in three days to win the holiday tournament. Zeigler had 14 points.
Senior guard Josiah-Jordan James did not play for the third straight game. He missed the tournament due to knee soreness.
Iowa State, Caleb Grill upset top-ranked North Carolina
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Tennessee hosts McNeese State on Wednesday (7:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.