Vanderbilt beats No. 1 Tennessee

NASHVILLE -- The Tennessee Volunteers found out being No. 1 can be tougher than beating No. 1.

Shan Foster scored 32 points and No. 18 Vanderbilt knocked off Tennessee, 72-69, on Tuesday night -- a day after the Volunteers moved into the top spot in the rankings for the first time in school history.

Tennessee, 25-3 overall and 11-2 in the Southeastern Conference, beat then-No. 1 Memphis on Saturday, 66-62, on the western edge of the state for its ninth straight victory to earn that spot, then had to travel back to the middle part of Tennessee to defend the top ranking for the first time.

Tennessee Coach Bruce Pearl said the Volunteers were fine, not exhausted by two road games against instate rivals in about 72 hours.

“I thought we put ourselves in a position in the second half on the road to be able to gut one out again, and they got a period there in the second half defensively where we just fouled them and sent them to the foul line a boatload of times. I thought that was a real difference,” Pearl said.

Vanderbilt (24-4, 9-4) has hosted the No. 1 team nine times in its 56 years at Memorial Gym, and the Commodores improved to 6-3 overall in those games with victories in the last four, including then-No. 1 Florida last year. The Commodores also have won all 18 home games this season and 31 of their last 32.

“It’s special,” Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings said. “We needed a win. It was a home game. It’s a big game for them. You want to win any game, but you certainly want to win big games. This was a big game.”