Dalton Knecht, Josiah-Jordan James carry Tennessee past Syracuse in Maui Invitational

No. 7 Tennessee is advancing in the Maui Invitational after a 73-56 win over Syracuse on Monday at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. The Vols will now face the winner between No. 2 Purdue and No. 11 Gonzaga in Tuesday’s semifinal round, an 8 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN.

Dalton Knecht scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half to carry Tennessee (4-0) against Syracuse (3-1), before battling cramps in his left leg in the second half. Josiah-Jordan James helped fill the void without him, scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Jonas Aidoo finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. 

Syracuse (3-1) got 16 points from Chris Bell and 15 points from Judah Mintz.

The Vols were clinging to a four-point lead with seven minutes left when Jahmai Mashack scored off an offensive rebound. James hit a three on the next trip down to extend the lead to nine with 6:05 left.

The lead was 11 after Aidoo hit a foul-line jumper with 2:01 left and Zakai Zeigler scored on a transition layup 20 seconds later. Tennessee ended the game with a 12-0 run over the final 2:48.

The lead was 11 for the Vols in the opening minutes of the second half after a three from James, a dunking 3-point play from Aidoo and another bucket from Knecht.

Syracuse answered with an 8-0 run to get it back to a one-possession game, with Tennessee’s lead down to 38-35, with just over 14 minutes left.

Knecht checked out with 10:20 left after dealing with cramps in his left leg. He went into the tunnel to receive treatment and returned to the game with 2:24 left, with the Vols leading by seven.

Mashack finished with eight points and Santiago Vescovi scored six. Jordan Gainey struggle with two points on 1-for-7 shooting and Zeigler had nine points and but committed a team-high six turnovers.

Knecht scored 15 in first half to rally Vols from down eight

Tennessee, after trailing by as much as eight, closed the first half on a 9-1 run to take a 30-25 lead into halftime. 

Knecht carried the Vols through their struggles in the first 20 minutes with 15 points. He was 5-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-4 from the 3-point line, and added three rebounds and an assist in 19 minutes on the floor. 

The Vols jumped out to a 5-1 lead early in the game, but Syracuse would later lead by as many as eight points, at 19-11 with 10:23 left in the half. From there, though, the Vols would outscore the Orange 19-6, not allowing Syracuse to make a shot from the field over the final 5:39 of the half.

Knecht tied the game on a three with 2:46 left before halftime and James gave Tennessee the lead with a transition dunk on the next possession.

Tobe Awaka suffers right ankle injury early in first half

Tobe Awaka left the game early in the first half with a right ankle injury. The sophomore power forward limped off the floor before receiving medical attention at the end of the bench. He had one rebound and one missed shot in one minute on the floor before suffering the injury.

Awaka in three games this season is averaging 5.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per game. He was replaced on Monday later in the first half by freshman forward JP Estrella.

The Vols entered the game short-handed after redshirt freshman guard Freddie Dilione V was ruled out for the tournament due to a partially torn plantar fascia in his left foot.

Maui Invitational Bracket 

No. 2 Purdue and No. 11 Gonzaga will start Monday at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2, following the Tennessee-Syracuse game. The bottom half of the bracket will be played late Monday, with Kansas-Chaminade starting at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU and UCLA facing Marquette. See the full Maui Invitational bracket here.

The Tennessee-Syracuse and Purdue-Gonzaga winners will play Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. The losers matchup at 2:30 p.m. ET Wednesday on ESPN2. 

The Kansas-Chaminade and UCLA-Marquette winners play at 10:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday on ESPN, after the losers matchup at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN 2. 

The championship game will be played Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN. The third-place game is Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and the fifth-place game will be played at 12 a.m. ET on ESPN2. The seventh-place game will be played Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.