Rick Barnes praises aggressive play from Jonas Aidoo

No. 5 Tennessee defeated Texas A&M 86-51 on Saturday behind a big performance on the glass, out-rebounding the Aggies 40-23. That effort was led by junior forward Jonas Aidoo.

Aidoo recorded 18 points and 14 rebounds during the contest, including six of Tennessee’s 10 offensive boards. It was also the ninth time this season that the 6-foot-11 Vol recorded at least three blocks in a single game, including 10 total in the past three games.

After the game, head coach Rick Barnes — who recorded his 800th career victory as a head coach with Saturday’s win — praised Aidoo for his continued toughness and physicality leading to his double-double.

“He was, I thought, terrific getting his hands up and really rebound the ball with two hands,” Barnes said. “And they’re a team that you got to work to get it because they are relentless in terms of coming at it. Even when you get it, they stay after it. But when Jonas plays with an aggressive attitude, I mean he’s as effective as any anybody in the country that plays his position.”

It wasn’t just Aidoo that was responsible for leading the Vols to victory on Saturday. Aside from Aidoo, two other players logged double figures against Texas A&M. Dalton Knecht scored his typical 20+ points while Tobe Awake logged 12 points in 17 minutes off the bench.

Combined, the trio scored 54 points by themselves while the Aggies finished with just 51 points.

Zakai Zeigler helped dish 14 of the Vols’ 23 assists on the afternoon to help his teammates in the scoring efforts. He flirted with a triple-double, adding nine points and nine rebounds to his totals in 35 minutes on the court for Tennessee.

Altogether, Barnes was able to play eight players significant minutes on Saturday. All of them scored at least once and recorded one or more rebounds each.

“I truly — and I mean this — I thought everyone that went in that game tonight impacted it some way, somehow,” Barnes continued. “And it was really a great mindset and we just got to continue to try to improve and get better with it.” 

The win catapults Tennessee into first place in the current SEC standings thanks to Alabama‘s loss to Kentucky. The two boast the same 11-3 conference record, but the Vols have the tiebreaker thanks to their 91-71 win over the Crimson Tide on Jan. 20.

Anything can happen from now and the end of the regular season, as Tennessee has matchups against ranked opponents from now until its season finale. They start that gauntlet on Wednesday against Auburn in Knoxville.