Watch: Rick Barnes addresses Vols in locker room after 73-56 win over Syracuse in Maui
No. 7 Tennessee found different ways to grind out a win, using different lineups after dealing with some sidelined players, Monday in the first round of the Maui Invitational against Syracuse. That was the message from Rick Barnes to his team after the 73-56 win at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
The Vols posted video from the postgame locker room scene on social media after the game:
gritty win.
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) November 20, 2023
back again tomorrow pic.twitter.com/lHJdRcZvXi
Rick Barnes: “I’ll tell you what, that’s a gritty win. The older guys I thought were awesome out there. Jo (Josiah-Jordan James) great job out there, man. You had 12 rebounds, 15 points. Jonas (Aidoo), again, good job. You came back with 12 points, 11 rebounds. JP (Estrella) your minutes were huge.
“Just gotta clean it up. Again, you guys know we turned it over way too much. But again, get back. Great job grinding it out. Different lineups, really a great job. Again, crazy kind of game. The flow was all over the place, but found way to get it done, right? We get the winner of this one, whoever it is gonna be. Watch some of this (game) because we don’t have much time to prep with it. You know what we’ve got to do. We got it done. Good job.”
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.
Sophomore power forward Tobe Awaka left early in the first half and never returned to the game due to a right-ankle injury suffered after playing just one minute. Redshirt freshman guard Freddie Dilione V was ruled out for the tournament before the game with a partially torn plantar fascia in his left foot.
Freshman JP Estrella replaced Awaka and finished with two points, three rebounds and an assist in nine minutes on the floor.
Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee vs. No. 2 Purdue, Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
Tennessee trailed by as many as eight in the first half before rallying to lead 30-25 at halftime, closing the half on a 19-6 run.
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“Really tough, hard-fought game,” Barnes said during his postgame press conference. “I’m really, really proud of our older group at the end when we had some different situations. Turned it over in ways that we normally shouldn’t. But I thought our older guys (played well), guys that had been in a lot of big games.”
Tennessee will now get No. 2 Purdue in the tournament semifinal round on Tuesday (8 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN). The Boilermakers beat No. 11 Gonzaga 73-63 in the second game in Honolulu on Monday.
Purdue went 26-9 and was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament last season before being upset by No. 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round.
“Matt Painter, I mean, he’s a big-time coach,” Barnes said. “Obviously got a great basketball (team) and (Zach) Edey’s development is really impressive. I mean, I go back and watch him where he started and where he is.”
