With a season opening win under the belt from Friday night, Tennessee turned its attention on Monday to intense preparations for an extended Caribbean road trip this week. The Vols will play three games in four days as part of the field in the Puerto Rico Tip-off, beginning with UNC-Asheville on Thursday afternoon.

When we last saw the Vols they were coasting to the finish line of a 76-67 win over Kennesaw State, having allowed the bulk of what was once a 27 point lead midway through the second half to vanish.

Tennessee was never in danger of losing the opener, but the less than dominating final score left a bad taste in the players' mouths that they chewed on over the weekend.

Cuonzo Martin, never prone to blow things out of proportion in either direction, didn't seem intent on making a big deal out of the late game let down after the fact, but he didn't have to. The players themselves seemed more than aware of the drop off in intensity.

"We had a mental slippage. We've got to play 40 minutes and not just in spurts. We know that, and that's something we've got to get better at," Trae Golden said on Monday afternoon.

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