Tennessee wraps up Italy exhibition tour with win over A.S. Stella Azzurra, 97-51
Tennessee basketball’s exhibition tour through Italy ended on Monday the same way it started. The Vols blew out an overmatched opponent, this time handling A.S. Stella Azzurra 97-51 in Rome.
Dalton Knecht led the way for Tennessee, scoring 16 points while hitting four times from the 3-point line. Santiago Vescovi scored 14, Jordan Gainey had 13 and Tobe Awaka added 12. Freddie Dilione V scored 10.
Stella Azzurra scored the game’s first two points at the free-throw line, but Tennessee forced a handful of turnovers in the opening minutes to fuel a 20-0 run, taking control of the game early and never looking back.
Knecht led the Vols in the first half with eight points after hitting a couple early threes. Vescovi and Gainey scored six points each in the first half.
Tennessee rode a train from Florence to Rome on Sunday and visited the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. The Vols were at the Vatican City on Monday and will tour the Colosseum and Palantine Hill on Tuesday, before flying home on Wednesday.
The 10-day tour started in Milan on August 1 and included a boat tour of Lake Como before the team bussed to Florence, where they faced the Lithuania U21 national team on back-to-back days, winning 97-57 on Friday and 116-90 on Saturday.
Game 1: Tennessee 97, Lithuania U21 57
Redshirt freshman point guard Freddie Dilione V started on Friday in the 97-57 win and made the biggest statement for Tennessee in his 22 minutes, scoring 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting, including 2-for-3 from the 3-point line, while finishing with five assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Dalton Knecht, played a team-high 24 minutes and led Tennessee with 14 points, going 5-for-14 from the field and 4-for-11 from the 3-point line. He had five rebounds, three steals and two assists. Jordan Gainey played just under 23 minutes, scoring 12 points on 4-for-12 shooting, including 4-for-10 from the 3-point line. He had four assists.
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Jahmai Mashack was another standout with 12 points, a team-high six steals and five rebounds in just under 24 minutes. Josiah-Jordan James played 18 minutes, scoring seven points and grabbing four rebounds. Jonas Aidoo played 18 minutes and also went 3-for-8 from the field. Santiago Vescovi in 16 minutes had five points, going 1-for-2 from the 3-point line.
Tobe Awaka scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 18 minutes on Friday. Freshman forward JP Estrella had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in just under 18 minutes off the bench. Redshirt freshman DJ Jefferson played 14 minutes, scoring two points.
Game 2: Tennessee 116, Lithuania U21 90
On Saturday it was Dalton Knecht and Santiago Vescovi scoring 19 points each to lead the way for the Vols. Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka scored 16 points each and Aidoo added 11 rebounds for the double-double. Awaka had nine boards.
Jordan Gainey scored 13 points for a second straight day and Josiah-Jordan James had 10 points. Freddie Dilione V had a double-double of his own with 10 points and 10 assists. Jahmai Mashack had seven points and four assists, DJ Jefferson scored six points and JP Estrella grabbed three rebounds.
Tennessee as a team finished 40-for-82 from the field, shooting 48.8 percent. The Vols were 16-for-37 from the 3-point line, finishing at 43.2 percent, and went 20-for-21 at the free-throw line. Five players had two or more made 3-pointers: Vescovi (5-7), Knecht (4-7), Gainey (2-5), Jefferson (2-6) and James (2-6).
