What we learned about Tennessee basketball during a tough stay in the Maui Invitational

Five things we learned about Tennessee basketball after the Vols went 1-2 — a 73-56 win over Syracuse before a 71-67 loss to No. 2 Purdue and 69-60 loss to No. 1 Kansas — and finished in fourth place at the Maui Invitational in Honolulu this week:

Dalton Knecht makes it go

When Dalton Knecht is rolling, Tennessee is rolling. The Vols saw it in the exhibition at Michigan State, where he scored 28. They saw it two weeks ago at Wisconsin, where he scored 24. In Honolulu, he had 17 against Syracuse, 16 against Purdue and 13 against Kansas.

When Knecht struggled, his team struggled. It’s clear this Tennessee team will go as he goes. 

Knecht struggled in the second half against Purdue, scoring 13 of his 16 before halftime. He struggled in the second half against Kanas, too, scoring 10 of his 13 in the first half and going 1-for-8 from the field after halftime. 

Tennessee won’t have another stretch in the schedule this brutal — No. 2 Purdue and No. 1 Kansas in consecutive days and going to No. 14 North Carolina on Wednesday — not to mention no other back-to-back-to-backs the Vols will have to deal with, either. 

There was always going to be an adjustment period for Knecht, going from Northern Colorado to Power 5 basketball and it looks like that started to set in over the last two days at the Maui Invitational.

The Vols will need Knecht to rebound at North Carolina next week, because right now it appears they’ll only go as far as he’ll take them. 

Post and point problems

Jonas Aidoo played 18.2 minutes per game last season, seventh highest on the team, and started nine times in 35 games. Tobe Awaka as a freshman played 10.4 minutes per game off the bench. 

Both players are obviously going to be relied on much more this season as the two biggest, most experienced players in the post. But the Vols need more from both players and they need it more consistently. 

Aidoo had 14 points and 11 rebounds against Syracuse on Monday, then 13 points and 12 rebounds over the next two days. Awaka had seven points and just one rebound against Purdue and Kansas after injuring his right ankle early against Syracuse in the first round.

Both bigs fouled out against Purdue, with Awaka playing 12 minutes and Aidoo playing 11. Through six games, the two are combining to average 11.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, with Aidoo averaging 22.8 minutes and Awaka just 9.2 minutes.

The Vols have two high-upside freshmen in the post in JP Estrella and Cade Phillips, but they’re not ready for the spotlight yet. That’s why Tennessee needs much, much more from Aidoo and Awaka. 

The problem at point guard is two-fold. Redshirt freshman Freddie Dilione V (foot) is hurt, but wasn’t playing a huge role before the injury. Junior Zakai Zeigler is back from the torn ACL he suffered in February, but he’s yet to look like his old self.

Zeigler is shooting just 19.4% from the floor (7-36) and 18.2% from three (4-22) with a team-high 15 turnovers in five games. 

Tennessee will need Zeigler to find his old form and hope that Dilione can get healthy sooner rather than later and get an opportunity to provide some help — and some depth — at the point.  

Attack the rim, get to the line 

Tennessee shot 33.3% from the field against Purdue on Tuesday, finishing 19-for-57. The Vols were 8-for-30 from the 3-point line, an ice-cold 26.7%. They were even colder Wednesday, going 22-for-71 from the field against Kansas and 9-for-33 from the 3-point line. 

What those numbers scream is that Tennessee isn’t a good enough offensively to settle for jump shots. The Vols are going to have to attack the rim and finish when they get there. 

Tennessee was 6-for-20 on layups against Kansas. 

“I don’t want to be a team where we’re making threes, it’s all going great,” Rick Barnes said Wednesday. “(And when) we’re not, we’re not. Because we’ve got too many different ways (to score). We missed too many layups today. Way, way (too many) at the rim that we’ve gotta make. 

“And it seemed like (Kansas) made all theirs. And we gotta get back to where we can finish those, some way, somehow get to the free-throw line.”

Tennessee didn’t get to the free-throw line when it mattered the most over the final two days in Honolulu. 

The Vols went 13-for-17 at the foul line in the first 12 minutes of the second half against Purdue, then didn’t shoot a single free throw in the final eight minutes. They attempted just two in the second half against Kansas, with Awaka making one of two with 15:06 left in the game.

Veteran consistency

Barnes said it as soon as he sat down for his postgame press conference Wednesday after the 69-60 loss to No. 1 Kansas on Wednesday. The Vols badly need consistency. And they need it from their veterans — Josiah-Jordan James, Santiago Vescovi, Jahmai Mashack, Zeigler and Aidoo.

“Just disappointed with our inconsistency,” Barnes said. “We’re just inconsistent. We need to know night to night what we’re gonna get … give Kansas credit. I thought they executed extremely well. I thought their key guys did exactly what you’d expect them to do night in and night out. We’ve gotta get that with our guys.”

Vescovi had a game-high 21 points against Kansas, going 5-for-11 from the 3-point line after going just 3-for-17 from three over the first five games of the season. James had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds Monday against Syracuse, then seven points on 2-for-10 shooting over 68 minutes against Purdue and Kansas. Zeigler’s only consistency has been his struggle so far.

The Vols appear to have gone 2-for-2 in the NCAA Transfer Portal with the addition of Knecht and Jordan Gainey, the team’s two leading scorers, but they need to know what they’re going to get every night out of the veterans, too.

The defense travels

Tennessee’s defense travels, both on the road and from one season to the next. The Vols finished first in KenPom.com‘s adjusted defensive efficiency last season at 85.7 points allowed per 100 possessions. They’re No. 1 again this season at 86.1 points allowed. 

That’s obviously good news for a team with offense that is hit or miss. The Vols were hovering around No. 30 in adjusted offensive efficiency through the first four games of the season, but dropped to No. 52 after going cold against Purdue and Kansas.

Still, even with those struggles, Tennessee hung around with the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in last week’s Associated Press Top 25. The Vols lost by four to Purdue, a game that came down to the closing minutes, and lost by nine against Kansas after too many scoreless stretches in the final eight minutes. 

The defense will be there. But the question remains, like it always does, if the offense can be there consistently, too.