How trio of Vols performed in their return from injury

This included star guard Dalton Knecht, key reserve forward Tobe Awaka and redshirt-freshman guard Freddie Dilione V. All suffered foot injuries within the last month.

Here's how each performed in their return to game action.

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Dalton Knecht

Tennessee's top scorer was listed as day-to-day the night before the matchup but that didn't hold him out of the game. While Knecht never missed a match, the six-day stretch between games helped him recover.

Against George Mason, Knecht played 25 minutes. In this time, he posted 10 points while shooting 4-for-11 from the field, 1-for-4 from range and 1-for-2 from the line.

He also contributed three rebounds and two assists while finishing with a +/- of +19.

Tobe Awaka

Awaka suffered an injury during the team's opener in the Maui Invitational but played out the remaining two games. However, upon returning to Knoxville, he didn't progress enough to return to the court against North Carolina.

Following a good week of practice, Awaka was completely cleared. Off the bench, he showed no sign of weakness in his ankle.

He posted 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting while grabbing seven rebounds. Four of these came on the offensive end, as well.

"It felt great to be back," said Awaka. "I missed it a lot. Being out there with my guys. Battling with them. I'm just glad to be back healthy. Injury felt well when we were going through warmups. I'm happy. It felt good to get in the game."

Freddie Dilione V

The longest-tenured injury belonged to redshirt freshman guard Freddie Dilione V. He suffered his setback against Wofford on Nov. 14.

While being limited to nine minutes, Dilione made his return to action. He scored three points on 1-for-4 shooting. He also added two rebounds and an assist.

However, overall, he was the only Vol to record a negative +/- at -4.

"I think he's got to get out there and get more comfortable," said Barnes. "Freddie is going to grow. Tough growing pains in understanding that its harder than he probably thinks its going to be. Taking care of the ball. People are going to press up on him as they did tonight. Going to the basket, probably in high school, he makes that layup. But he didn't.

"He's working his way back. He was the only guy we knew we were going to limit tonight. He's going to learn. He's young. He's realizing what it's about I think. I think defensively, he's trying. He's got to learn how to not be screened but I think he's putting in effort there."

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