John Fulkerson and Santiago Vescovi scored 11 points each, Yves Pons had 10 rebounds, and the No. 12 Tennessee Volunteers opened their season with a 56-47 win over the Colorado Buffaloes in Knoxville on Tuesday night.

Jeriah Horne had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Colorado (2-1).

Tennessee (1-0) had six games postponed or canceled due to COVID-19 issues. Tuesday's opener came nearly two weeks after their first game was originally scheduled to be played.

The Buffaloes played two games in the Little Apple Classic in Manhattan, Kan., Thanksgiving week, but since then had three games canceled or postponed.

The Volunteers led by seven at halftime, but Colorado cut it to 33-31 on a dunk by Keeshawn Barthelemy. The Buffs had three chances to tie the score or take the lead, but committed two turnovers and missed a shot. Tennessee took advantage to extend the lead to lead 44-34 with 11:47 remaining.

A Horne 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Dallas Walton helped get the Buffaloes back to within 45-39 with 6:52 left, but the Volunteers scored the next five points and then made their free throws down the stretch.

The Volunteers had gotten off to a hot start, scoring the first five points and racing to a 17-2 lead on Victor Bailey Jr.'s 3-pointer with 12:22 left in the first half. Colorado committed five turnovers, and its only points came on a jumper by McKinley Wright IV.

Tennessee reached its largest lead of 16 points after another Bailey 3-pointer, but the Buffaloes went on a 14-2 run of their own over the next 7:22 to draw within four points. Vescovi answered with one from behind the arc to give Tennessee a 31-24 halftime lead.

--Field Level Media