Jonas Aidoo 'brought out the dog' that No. 7 Tennessee needed to win at Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. — Rick Barnes got his message across to Jonas Aidoo. He told Tennessee’s sophomore center where to be, what would happen when he got there, and how it all would finish.

“I told him we don’t need you shooting more jump shots,” Barnes said Wednesday. “We don’t need that. We need you to want to go inside.”

Aidoo, the long, lanky 6-foot-11, 241-pound big man, camped out inside on both ends at Ole Miss, scoring eight points, grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds and blocking three shots while helping No. 7 Tennessee rally from down 10 points to win 63-59 at Ole Miss.  

“He can score in there when he gets his position,” Barnes said of Aidoo, who went 4-for-8 from the field at SBJ Pavilion. “He’s got a great touch … he’s long. He affects a lot of things.”

Aidoo over his last two games has combined for 18 points and 22 rebounds. He missed a double-double by one rebound against Austin Peay last week, finishing with 10 points and nine boards. He came up two points shy of one on Wednesday.  

“Just going into SEC play, just have to start off strong,” Aidoo said. “I would say preparation was strong for me, too, so it just all started in practice and converting what I do in practice to the game. That’s how my confidence really grows.”

Jonas Aidoo answered for Vols in second half at Ole Miss

At Ole Miss Aidoo scored six points, had seven rebounds and had all of his three blocked shots in the second half, playing 15 of the 20 minutes after the break. 

“The second half,” Barnes said, “I thought he was terrific in the lane on the defensive end. If he gets where he needs to be, these guys will find him. He does have some great hands.” 

“Oh, he was great,” sophomore guard Zakai Zeigler said. “He was super active. He brought out the dog that we needed in him.”

Aidoo scored to tie the game at 41-41 with 12:08 left. He blocked a shot two minutes later, with Tennessee up two, then had two blocks on one possession with just under seven minutes left, with the Vols up four. 

He dunked to put Tennessee up seven with just under eight minutes left and later grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to put the Vols up three with 4:35 to go.   

“Just the fix-it plays like Coach Barnes always talks about,” Aidoo said of the back-to-back blocks. “Just having fix-it plays because those type of plays are going to win games and I had an opportunity and I just took it.”

Aidoo didn’t play in Tennessee’s 56-53 win over Maryland on December 11 in Brooklyn, missing the game with flu-like symptoms. He returned in the loss at Arizona six days later, but had only two points and four rebounds in 12 minutes, going 1-for-5 from the field.

“He’s learning that people are going to go at him,” Barnes said, “which he’s starting to learn how he needs to get focused in every game, knowing that teams are going to try to get him out on the perimeter some.”

Aidoo averaged just 7.8 minutes in 19 games last season, taking on a bigger role after Olivier Nkamhoua was lost to a season-ending injury. Aidoo averaged 2.1 points and 2.2 rebounds. He’s doubled those numbers in his second year, now up to 4.9 points per game and 5.8 rebounds, as Tennessee’s leader on the glass.

“I watched him grow all summer,” Zeigler said, “so it’s not really that big of a difference for me, but for everybody else to see it is a pretty big deal.”

Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Aidoo came off the bench in the first half at Ole Miss, scoring two points and grabbing six rebounds in 13 minuets before halftime. Barnes stuck with his usual starting front court of Nkamhoua and Uros Plavsic, but Plavsic was scoreless with three rebounds and two turnovers in just 11 minutes. 

Aidoo hasn’t started a game to date in his Tennessee career, but that’s another stat that could be changing.

“Yesterday,” Barnes said, “I actually started playing him with the first group because we haven’t done that enough with he and Tobe (Awaka) … we are starting (to see) where he gets more reps with the first group. 

“But if he keeps doing what he is going to do,” Barnes added, “there is no doubt that he is going to play a much different role. That is the great thing about the game and a season, roles change. I don’t know what we are going to look like in the end.”