No. 6 Tennessee uses stellar defense to secure comeback win over No. 23 Georgia

Tennessee opened the second half on a 30-4 run, and that proved to be too much for Georgia to overcome and make the game as close and hard-fought as it did in the first half.

Tennessee was able to score 74 points despite a poor shooting night from usual sharpshooter Chaz Lanier, who shot 2-for-16 from the field and 1-for-9 from three-point range.

Jordan Gainey scored 19 points off the bench for Tennessee, 14 of those coming in the second half.  

Veteran point guard Zakai Zeigler had an excellent game, finishing with 16 points, seven assists and a season high six steals. He had six of Tennessee's 11 team steals. Eleven was three steals higher than the Vols' season average of 7.9 per game.

Georgia struggled to get scoring as its leading scorer was Asa Newell, who had just 13 points. Silas Demary was efficient from three-point range, going 4-for-7 from three in the game.

The rest of the team tallied just 56 points, the second time they've been held under 60 points in SEC play.

It doesn't get much easier for Georgia, as it will welcome No. 1 Auburn on Saturday in another Top 25 showdown.

Tennessee gets a break from the ranked action, as it travels to Nashville for a rivalry game against Vanderbilt before a four-game stretch against Top 15 teams.