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No. 21 Tennessee tops Florida A&M for 31st-straight home win

SEC Basketball Tournament - Semifinals

ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the semifinals of the 2018 SEC Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 10, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — John Fulkerson scored 15 points to lead five Tennessee players in double figures as the 21st-ranked Volunteers trounced winless Florida A&M 72-43 on Wednesday night for their 31st consecutive home victory.

Tennessee (7-1) owns the longest active home winning streak of any Division I team. The Vols haven’t lost at home since falling 94-84 to Auburn on Jan. 2, 2018.

The Vols’ latest victory improved Rick Barnes’ coaching record to 699-365 in 32 seasons at George Mason (1987-88), Providence (1988-94), Clemson (1994-98), Texas (1998-2015) and Tennessee (2015-present).

Barnes will try to become the seventh active head coach to earn 700 career Division I wins when Tennessee hosts No. 15 Memphis on Dec. 14. The fraternity includes Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, West Virginia’s Bob Huggins, Coastal Carolina’s Cliff Ellis and Kentucky’s John Calipari.

Fulkerson’s 15-point performance came four days after the junior forward scored a career-high 17 in a 72-69 victory over VCU, which was ranked No. 20 at the time.

Yves Pons scored 14 points and Olivier Nkamhoua had 11 for Tennessee. Lamonte’ Turner and Josiah-Jordan James added 10 points apiece.

Evins Desir scored 11 points for Florida A&M (0-7).

Tennessee took control with an early 14-0 run that opened a 16-3 advantage. The Vols stayed in front by double digits the rest of the way.

Florida A&M shot just 35.6% (16 of 45) from the floor. Tennessee hasn’t allowed any of its first eight opponents to shoot better than 41.1%.

BIG PICTURE

Florida A&M: This game continued the early-season travels for Florida A&M, a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference program that won’t play its first home game until it hosts Morgan State on Jan. 11. The Rattlers are opening their season with 11 road games and two neutral-site contests.

Tennessee: The Vols won easily despite not getting much scoring from Jordan Bowden, who entered with a team-high 15.4 points per game. Bowden scored just three and shot 1 of 7. Tennessee will need to play better to beat Memphis after the exam break. Tennessee had an equal number of turnovers and baskets (10) in the second half.

UP NEXT

Florida A&M is at Portland on Dec. 16.

Tennessee hosts Memphis on Dec. 14.