No. 17 Tennessee runs away from George Mason, 87-66
No. 17 Tennessee and George Mason were stuck in a slog early on Tuesday night, with the two teams scoring a combined nine points over a stretch of seven minutes in the first half. Then, in an instant, the Vols ran away.
Tennessee scored the final six points of the first half and extended the run to 18-3 in the opening minutes after halftime, running away with an 87-66 win at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Vols (5-3), snapping a three-game losing streak after falling to Purdue, Kansas and at North Carolina, got a career-high 17 points from Jonas Aidoo, to go with eight rebounds and four assists. Josiah-Jordan James scored 15, had six rebounds and six assists and Dalton Knecht scored 10.
Knecht started and played 25 minutes after leaving the North Carolina game with a sprained left ankle on Wednesday. Tobe Awaka also returned from the ankle injury that sidelined him at UNC and redshirt freshman guard Freddie Dilione returned from a foot injury that had sidelined him since November 14.
Awaka had 11 points and seven rebounds in 11 minutes. Dilione scored three points in eight minutes.
George Mason (7-2) got a team-high 15 points from Darius Maddox.
Tennessee’s lead was just four with 5:49 left in the first half, at 23-19, but the Vols outscored Mason 16-7 and ended the half with six straight, on a Knecht free throw, a James three and a Jordan Gainey layup.
The second half started with two Knecht buckets and an Aidoo three to build the lead to 20. Tennessee led 51-29 and forced a George Mason timeout after starting the second half on a 12-3 run.
Vols closed first half on 6-0 run to lead by 13 at halftime
Gainey drove and scored just before the horn sounded on the first half, building Tennessee’s lead to 13 at 39-26, its biggest lead of the opening 20 minutes.
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The Vols in the first half got 10 points from James, nine from Aidoo and six each from Knecht and Zeigler. Gainey had four points.
Tennessee shot 51.6 percent from the field and went 5-for-15 at the 3-point line. The half ended with a 6-0 Tennessee run to extend the lead to 13.
Up Next: No. 20 Illinois, Saturday, Noon ET, CBS
Tuesday’s game against George Mason was Tennessee’s first home game in three weeks and the start of a stretch on the schedule with six out of seven games at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Vols now turn their attention to No. 20 Illinois (7-1) and Saturday’s Noon Eastern Time game (TV: CBS) in Knoxville. The Illini beat No. 11 Florida Atlantic 98-89 in the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Vols host Georgia Southern on Tuesday and face North Carolina State in a neutral-site game in San Antonio on December 16. Tarleton State comes to Knoxville on December 21, the final game before the Christmas break, and Tennessee hosts Norfolk State on January 2 in the final non-conference game on the regular-season schedule.
SEC play starts with Ole Miss coming to Thompson-Boling Arena on January 6. The Vols go on the road in conference play for the first time on January 10 at Mississippi State.
