It looked like a bad night for the SEC, Tennessee trailed Murray State, 44-35, at the half, and #1 Kentucky suffered an improbable loss at Rupp Arena to Evansville, which won only 11 games last year.
But the shots stopped falling for the Racers and the Vols came roaring back to win 82-63. Tennessee scored the final 16 points of the contest.
Senior Jordan Bowden finished with 26, and Yves Pons had 19 after hitting three triples as part of his 13 first-half scores.
John Fulkerson, a fan favorite, inspired the Vols with a string of hustle plays that saw him clanging through the sideline chairs or deep beyond the basket. A highlight was his dunk off a no-look Lamonte Turner dish.
The Ja Morant-less Murray State connected on eight 3-pointers in the opening half out of 14 tries.
On the line was the Vols' record of 27 straight wins at Thompson-Boling Arena - the longest such streak in the nation. The big second half moved that number to 28.