It's rare that pieces of Tennessee's offense play in a game against a defense tougher than the one it faces daily at practice.
The Vols own the fourth-best adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom and have routinely finished with one of the top units in the country under Rick Barnes.
While Illinois is not slouch on the defensive end, this rang true once again in Tennessee's 86-79 win on Saturday.
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For leading scorer Dalton Knecht, he knocked down multiple contested shots throughout the afternoon. This was good for 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting.
While a hand was constantly in his face, prior practices against other Vols' wing defenders prepared him for these moments. This includes 1-on-1s with one of the best defenders in the country — Jahmai Mashack.
In these battles, Knecht presumably rarely gets off a clean shot. Instead, it forces him to figure out other ways to score.
"I like shooting contested shots," said Knecht. "I don't know why, I feel like I shoot better. They were playing great defense. I mean, I play against (Mashack) every single day. Me and him, we play 1-on-1 all the time. He be making me work for it. So shoutout to him because he be pushing me all the time. I feel like, I just play out confidence and my teammates have a bunch of confidence in me. Credit to all my teammates as well as the coaching staff."
The physicality and pace of a Tennessee basketball practice is apparent immediately upon stepping into the gym. Players on defense are loud in their communication and open shots are nearly impossible to come by.
MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Key takeaways: Dalton Knecht shines under bright Knoxville lights
Playing at this intensity in practice leads to a rare bond amongst the entire team.
"It's very unique," said Mashack. "It's something that a lot of our teammates don't take for granted. Being in this locker room, we know that we're playing for each other. Just like Dalton said, we're competing against each other every day in practice. When you do it like how we do it, you're going to grow some connections. You're going to get close to a lot of these guys. I've seen the way our team is built. I've seen our character."
The connection was on display throughout the game against the Fighting Illini but one play stood out between Mashack and Knecht.
In the midst of a run to reclaim a lead it would never again forfeit, Knecht buried a 3-pointer. This marked 10 unanswered points and moved the score to a six-point advantage.
Leading up to the big shot was a great play from Mashack. He was in position to rebound the previous miss and quickly found Knecht for the look.
"It's big time," said Knecht. "He does that all the time in practice. It's a big time winning play. That three wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for him crashing. Big shoutout to (Mashack) for that."
"Thank you for the assist," said Mashack in response.
Next, the Vols will host Georgia Southern on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. Then, they'll travel to San Antonio to face NC State in another neutral site test. SEC play will begin on Jan. 6 against Ole Miss.
As the schedule leads into the SEC slate, Tennessee can be expected to continue to build off of the relationships formed in tough practices.
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