It started to feel less like an exhibition and more like a game that counted with five minutes left.

In a preseason charity exhibition between two top 20 teams, No. 12 Tennessee led No. 17 Indiana for much of the second half until the Hoosiers took the lead with under six minutes to go at Food City Center on Sunday.

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As the Vols, playing from behind for the first time since late in the first half, brought the ball up the floor looking to answer Malik Reneau's go-ahead 3-pointer, the feeling inside of Tennessee's home arena mirrored a meaningful regular season instead of a glorified scrimmage.

The Vols stayed within a possession in the final seconds, but were never able to reclaim their lead, falling to the Hoosiers, 66-62 a week before Tennessee opens its 2024-25 season officially.

In the first look at the Vols since their SEC title and Elite Eight run last March, Tennessee debuted a number of new transfer additions while being led by some returning veterans.

Zakai Zeigler paced the Vols in scoring with 13 points, while Jordan Gainey totaled 12. Transfer guard Chaz Lanier scored 10 and Jahmai Mashack had 9.

Among the newcomers, forward Felix Okpara tallied 7 points and recorded a game-high four blocks on the defensive end and Igor Milicic Jr. finished with 8.

Tennessee shot 30.5% from the field and 22.9% from three-point range.

After missing its first four 3-point attempts, Tennessee's first points came from a Jordan Gainey drive that he finished for the first score for either team more than two minutes into the first half.

Tennessee's shooting woes continued after that, though. Indiana rattled off an 8-0 run to pull ahead 8-2 before Chaz Lanier, who had entered off of the bench only seconds before laced a three to end a scoring drought.

Another scoreless stretch followed for Tennessee, allowing the Hoosiers to expand their lead. It was answered with a lay up from Igor Milicic Jr., but Cam Carr was whistled for a goal-tend on the other end that upped Indiana's lead to 14-9 with 12 minutes left in the half.

Despite a lack off scoring, Tennessee was strong on the defensive end. In his first appearance, JP Estrella blocked a shot and an inbound pass on an Indiana possession that ended in a shot-clock violation. The Vols forced a second shot-clock violation, this time with Zakai Zeigler leaving Luke Goode nowhere to go with the ball over midway point of the half.

Gainey again provided Tennessee a little life offensively, hitting a jumper to trim the Indiana lead to two at 16-14 with just over seven minutes to go. It proved contagious. Zeigler followed it up with a go-ahead 3-pointer and a steal on the other end turned into a Lanier dunk to swell the Vols' lead to 19-16.

Felix Okpara, who had a quiet start, scored 5 points in back-to-back possessions, first on a and-1 and then again on a dunk that put Tennessee up 26-21 just before the half. A foul on Gainey at the buzzer allowed Indiana to cut the Vols' lead to 26-25 at the break.

Kanaan Carlyle drained a game-tying three in the opening minutes of the second half, but Gainey, who led Tennessee in scoring in the first half, put the Vols back in front at 33-30 with one of his own.

A defensive board resulted in Jahmai Mashack's first points--an and-1 in transition to push the Tennessee advantage to 36-32. It opened the way for a scoring run that included a Zeigler 3-pointer and another dunk from Okpara to go ahead 41-35 with inside of 16 minutes left.

Tennessee created some separation after Zeigler and Lanier hit 3-pointers and Cade Phillips scored to go up six with 10 minutes to go, but Indiana continued to hang around, pulling with two at 52-50 after a Myles Rice jumper.

That persistence paid off when Malik Reneau put Indiana in the lead with a three with five minutes, 47 seconds remaining. His jumper on the next possession put the Hoosiers ahead, 57-54.

Tennessee fell behind by six--its largest deficit, but Mashack knocked down a three with three minutes, 40 seconds on the clock that dwindled the Indiana lead to 60-57. Milicic free throws brought the Vols within one.

Indiana went back up four, but Zeigler made it a one-possession game again with 33.8 seconds left with a pair of free throws, but the Hoosiers used the clock and the free throw line to pull away in the last 10 seconds.

Tennessee will now shift its focus to its season opener next week.

The Vols open with Gardner-Webb at Food City Center on Nov. 4 (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network+), looking to continue their success in season openers under 10th-year head coach Rick Barnes.

The Bulldogs finished 17-16 overall and 11-5 in Big South Conference play last season.

The game will serve as a quick tune-up for Tennessee, which will turnaround play its first road game against Louisville five days later on Nov. 9 at KFC Yum! Center.

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