By ELIZABETH A. DAVIS
AP Sports Writer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Brandon Crump scored a career-high 26 points and Scooter McFadgon added 16 to lift Tennessee to a 71-69 win over Xavier on Saturday.
The Volunteers (3-3) trailed in the second half until McFadgon scored on a fast break set up by Chris Lofton's steal to put Tennessee ahead 66-64 with 3:19 remaining.
Xavier's Justin Doellman followed with a 3-pointer to give the Musketeers (2-3) the lead again, but C.J. Watson made the second of two free-throw attempts and Crump scored to give Tennessee the lead back for good with 1:50 left.
The Musketeers had a chance to rally while Tennessee missed some free throws at the end that would have iced it.
Dedrick Finn sank two free throws to cut the lead to 70-69 with 58.8 seconds to go.
McFadgon missed one free throw, and Watson missed two more in the final 28 seconds.
Finn missed a 3-pointer at the end, and Xavier's final possession ended when Watson stripped the ball from Finn before he could get a shot off.
Finn led Xavier with 12 points while Doellman added 11 and Justin Cage had 10.
Crump shot 11-of-14 from the field. McFadgon scored 12 of his points in the second half after struggling before halftime.
Tennessee was nearly doomed by defensive breakdowns, but overcame problems on defense by shooting 58 percent (25-of-43).
Tennessee led 14-3 in the opening minutes, but the Musketeers answered with a 13-2 run to tie it with 12:01 left in the first half.
The score was tied at halftime, and Xavier started the second half with a 9-1 run.
Xavier had not played since Nov. 30, a loss to Creighton.
