by Griffin H.

Stokes got the start, Stokes got the minutes, Stokes got a double-double, Stokes got a win over a Top-25 program. As did all of the Vols Saturday as Tennessee knocked off yet another ranked team before an announced crowd of 21,114. An ESPN analyst tweeted yesterday, “No stadium in the Big East is louder than Thompson-Boling Arena right now.”

The Vols were down 27-25 at halftime, but went on a 9-0 spurt to begin the second half, taking a 34-27 lead. UConn never lead for the rest of the game, but they came close. They tied it a few times late in the game, but with calm free-throw shooting, the Vols iced the cake and pulled out a dramatic 60-57 victory.

Stokes scored a career-high 16 points and added 12 boards, leading the team in both categories. Cameron Tatum scored 15, and Jeronne Maymon and Skylar McBee both added 8. Trae Golden, who leads the team in scoring, had 2.

Here’s a fun fact, during the game yesterday Jarnell Stokes was a trending topic on Twitter in the US.

Stokes said on the game yesterday, “This whole thing is just surreal, man. It’s surreal. I’m so blessed to be here with these guys and these coaches.”

In Other News:

• Breaking News: Joe Paterno, former head coach at Penn St., is in the hospital and his condition has been released as serious. Family and friends have been called in to say their final goodbyes.

Factoid of the Day: Chris Lofton was ranked by ESPN as the best three-point shooter in the last 25 years (since the line was established).

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment. Enjoying teens4tn.com? Subscribe in the sidebar. ->