Recap: Tennessee pulls away from Montana to win 92-57

A big night for Igor Milicic.

There were a few tense moments in the first half in the Food City Center on Wednesday night, but they didn’t last long. Tennessee picked up win No. 3 on the year, pulling away in the second half to close out the Montana Grizzlies, 92-57.

Montana was picked to win the Big Sky conference, and you could see why early on.

The three-ball was flying early for both sides, but particularly for Montana. Three triples, two from Money Williams, had Montana weathering the storm early on. Zakai Zeigler and Igor Milicic hit a couple for the Volunteers, while Jahmai Mashack hit a couple of midrange jumpers to build an early five-point lead.

Williams continued his hot start, scoring at the rim and hitting another three to start 3-3 from long range. Tennessee led 19-16 with 12 minutes to play in the first half.

The pace would slow dramatically over the next few minutes as both sides ramped up defensively. Milicic finally broke a near five minute drought from the field for both sides, hitting the spin cycle and connecting on a layup to put Tennessee up 23-19 with a little over seven minutes to play.

Tennessee’s struggles containing Williams continued, as the NBA prospect nearly single-handedly kept Montana in this game. His pressure on the defense also had Tennessee in a bit of foul trouble, with Zeigler, Lanier and Cameron Carr each logging two personal fouls.

Bishop Boswell would run the point with Zeigler sidelined. Milicic picked up the slack while he was out, scoring in the paint and then drilling another three to get some breathing room. Milicic would score 14 points in the first half.

A tough first half ended with a Tennessee lead, 40-31.

Lanier and Okpara would come out of the halftime break and put this one to bed. Three three-point jumpers fell for Lanier to start the half, while Okpara found three buckets of his own. Very quickly, the lead was out to 20 points at 60-40 with 13 minutes to play.

Zeigler rattled in another three, then found J.P. Estrella down low on back to back possessions for four more points. The Tennessee lead was suddenly 28 points, though they still never quite found an answer for Money Williams.

Williams ended with 30 points, but never quite found any help from his teammates.

Tennessee was led by Milicic, who scored 18 points and added ten rebounds. The Charlotte transfer also was credited with five assists. Chaz Lanier, Felix Okpara and Cam Carr all put up 13 points each.

The Volunteers shot 61 percent from the floor, including 43 percent from three-point range. It was another dominant night on the glass for Tennessee, winning the rebounding battle 38 to 17.

Tennessee’s next game comes against Austin Peay on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m. ET/SECN+).