Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, freshman trio lift Tennessee basketball over Tennessee Tech

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield leaned forward as he posted up Tennessee Tech’s Daniel Ramsey in the second half Friday.

Ramsey fell to the floor as Huntley-Hatfield backed him down. The Tennessee basketball freshman spun and banked in a layup, putting the Vols ahead and starting a torrid run for a trio of Vols freshmen.

Huntley-Hatfield, Kennedy Chandler and Zakai Zeigler scored 14 straight points in the second half, propelling Tennessee to an 80-69 win against the Golden Eagles (2-4) at Thompson-Boling Arena.

“We had to fight hard to win the game and we will learn from it," Vols coach Rick Barnes said. "It is not just from a basketball standpoint, but from a mental side of the game.”

Huntley-Hatfield finished with 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting for No. 17 Tennessee (4-1). Chandler had 15 points, four assists and five steals. Zeigler had four points, four rebounds and four assists.

Forward Olivier Nkamhoua had 18 points on 8-for-8 shooting to lead UT, which trailed at halftime and in the back-and-forth opening minutes of the second half.

Freshmen, they get the job done

Huntley-Hatfield started the run for Tennessee’s freshmen, flipping the game for the Vols after a largely slugging performance. Zeigler made a pair of free throws on the following possession.

Zeigler made a tremendous play on the following possession, hustling to secure a loose ball and finding Huntley-Hatfield for another layup.

"He would tell you above everyone else, he knows he has a long way to go," Barnes said of Huntley-Hatfield. "In the last couple of weeks, I think he is starting to see it as much as understand it from seeing college basketball in a different light … For the most part, he fought hard and got the ball where he wanted it.”

Chandler stole the ball from Tennessee Tech out of a timeout, running free for a transition dunk. Huntley-Hatfield made back-to-back jumpers, backing into the paint for the first and hitting the second from the baseline.

Chandler finished the run with a layup high off the glass.

No Josiah-Jordan James, Justin Powell

Josiah-Jordan James of Tennessee did not play for the second straight game. The junior guard has a left hand injury, which he suffered against Villanova on Nov. 20. He was in sweats on the UT bench and had a bandage on his left middle finger.

Barnes indicated Sunday that James suffered a torn ligament in his hand.

"It is day-to-day," Barnes said. "He is such a great leader. He will stay engaged. He will know when he thinks can do what he needs to do.”

Sophomore guard Justin Powell, an Auburn transfer, did not play due to the flu.

Tennessee struggles to shoot in the first half

Chandler pulled a 3-pointer from the wing on UT’s first possession. He missed and the Vols kept missing.

Tennessee missed its first 10 3-point attempts against the Golden Eagles and was 2-for-15 on 3-pointers in the first half.

“This game normally gives you what you put into it in preparation," Barnes said. "Some of our younger guys (Thursday), it wasn’t what it needed to be. It showed up in the first half.”

Nkamhoua made UT’s first, a top-of-the-key shot with 5:56 to play before halftime. Chandler made Tennessee’s only other first-half 3-pointer when his shot bounced a few times and in with 3:11 before the half.

UT guard Santiago Vescovi made back-to-back 3-pointers to open the second half. He had 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Up next

Tennessee hosts Presbyterian on Tuesday (7 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.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee basketball freshmen lift Vols over Tennessee Tech