Game Recap: Tennessee Aces First Test At Wisconsin
Picture this: It's June of 2023. You're out for a walk when a stranger walks up to you. He tells you that Tennessee at the start of the season is going to win a 67-possession game in which they score 1.194 points per possession despite their 2 All-Conference guards combining for 10 points.
You would never have believed it, yet that's what the Vols did on Friday night. Tennessee never trailed in a game that was close throughout en route to an 80-70 road win over Wisconsin. Dalton Knecht scored 24 points to lead the way for the Vols while AJ Storr scored 17 to lead the Badgers.
The most important part of the game wasn't the result, the margin of victory or even an individual performance. It was a cumulation of everything, proving that the Vols could win tough games in ways they couldn't a year ago. You can try your hardest, but if you want to find a game away from Thompson-Boling Arena last season against a top 50 KenPom team where Tennessee scored 80 points, you won't.
How did Tennessee do in the keys to the game?
I have to admit my fault here. I was wrong about what Tennessee needed to do to win this game. The keys to the game were forcing turnovers to get run-outs and offensive rebounding. Wisconsin only turned it over 9 times (13.2%) and Tennessee only had 6 offensive rebounds (22.2%). Furthermore, Tennessee didn't even shoot it well!
Tennessee controlling this game down the stretch came down to a couple of things, but one that stood out: free throws. Now let's be clear, last season, Tennessee and Wisconsin were both bad free-throw shooting teams (222nd and 287th respectively). However, the team that made theirs tonight was the team that had 17,000+ fans yelling at them while they were shooting.
Tennessee finished 19-23 from the line while Wisconsin finished 14-23. The Vols' leading scorers, Dalton Knecht and Josiah-Jordan James (14 points), hit 12 of the 19. The two wings were key in the closing moments as Knecht hit the Vols' final two field goals and James made 4 free throws to seal the win.
Contributions from Jordan Gainey, Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka didn't go unnoticed. Gainey and Aidoo finished with 10 points apiece and Aidoo added 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. Awaka did stuff the stat sheet, but had 6 points and 6 boards and scored 4 in a row with under 7 minutes to push Tennessee's lead out to 8 for the first time since halftime.
Concerns
It's hard to point out concerns in a win like this, but let's be a little nit-picky. After all, it's November 11th. No team in the country is a finished product right now.
Offensive Rebounding
Through 2 games, Tennessee has an offensive rebounding rate of just 23.7. That's almost 13% lower than last season and a concern that Rick Barnes spoke about after the exhibition game against Lenoir-Rhyne. With guys like Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka as well as Josiah-Jordan James, that needs to be better.
The All-Conference Backcourt
This is something I'd like to get into deeper and I understand that there is probably no reason to worry, but the offensive production from Zakai Zeigler and Santiago Vescovi has not been what it was last year. Zeigler is just getting back from a torn ACL and Vescovi obviously was just in Uruguay with his family visiting his Grandma who is sick so it is very likely that the duo is simply getting used to playing with this team again.
Vescovi had a really nice burst to the basket for an and-one and Zeigler hit a rainbow 3 on a shot you wouldn't expect him to normally take, so the flashes are there and I have no doubt that the two will return to form relatively shortly.
Overall, there are so many things to be encouraged by right now for Tennessee and I imagine this team is not close to their final form.
The Vols' next game is against Wofford at home on Tuesday, November 14th at 6:30 P.M. EST. It will be Tennessee's final game before the Vols travel to Honolulu to take part in the Maui Invitational.
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