Jonas Aidoo has career game for Tennessee basketball in easy win vs Georgia Southern
Jonas Aidoo tapped the ball away from a Georgia Southern player at midcourt and he was off.
Tennessee basketball's 6-foot-11 forward dribbled and snuck around a defender, laying the ball in. He had 10 points and so did the Vols, who raced to a terrific start against Georgia Southern before a lethargic, lackadaisical second half.
Tennessee won 74-56 against lowly Georgia Southern because it got a career performance from Aidoo and despite its second-half disappointment Tuesday at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
Aidoo led No. 10 Tennessee (7-3) with a career-high 29 points and 11 rebounds against the Eagles (0-10).
Jonas Aidoo was superb again
Aidoo made a layup on UT's first possession. Then he made a free throw and another layup off a stellar pass from Santiago Vescovi. He hit a corner 3-pointer before doing it all himself with a steal and layup for a 10-0 lead with all points supplied by the big man.
Aidoo has been outstanding for the Vols of late, scoring at least 13 points in four straight games. He has set career highs twice in that span, getting one with 17 points against George Mason and topping that Tuesday.
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Tennessee was sloppy to say the least in the second half
Tennessee led 49-21 at halftime then it turned in a sloppy second half characterized by being outhustled and outplayed. It started poorly as Georgia Southern dictated the pace out of halftime and ran past the Vols on both ends of the court. It stayed bad for the first 15 minutes of the second half.
The Eagles clipped Tennessee's 28-point halftime lead down to 13 after a 10-0 run that included a pair of 3-pointers.
The Vols had 12 second-half turnovers which included 11 Georgia Southern steals. UT had a season-high 19 turnovers after its prior high was 16 against Syracuse. Ut shot 28.6% from the field in the second half and were 1-for-12 shooting in the second half.
The Vols are getting by with a little help from each other
The Vols have been stacking up massive assist numbers in the past week. They started with 27 on 32 made field goals against George Mason after not having more than 16 in a game this season and having a pair of single-digit assist games.
UT had 21 assists on 27 field goal in its 86-79 win against Illinois on Saturday. It had 17 on Saturday after having 13 in the first half.
Up next
Tennessee plays North Carolina State on Saturday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN2) in San Antonio.
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
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Jonas Aidoo propels Tennessee basketball to win vs Georgia Southern
