CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Tennessee and North Carolina were among the headliners of the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge, but the primetime clash between two top 20 teams offered little in the way of drama and excitement until the final eight minutes.

The No. 10 Vols, coming off of back-to-back losses against then-No. 1 Kansas and No. 2 Purdue at the Maui Invitational, struggled vs. the No. 17 Tar Heels as a first half that unraveled gave way to a valiant second half effort led by Dalton Knecht before North Carolina pulled away to win 100-92 at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill on Wednesday.

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Tennessee (4-3), which was without sophomore forward Tobe Awaka and redshirt freshman guard Freddie Dilione V, shot 55.6% from the field but 32.1% from 3-point range.

Knecht led the Vols in scoring for the sixth time in seven games, totaling 37 points, including 22 in the second half while Josiah-Jordan James finished with 20 points and Jonas Aidoo scored 13.

Tennessee was out-rebounded, 34-31 and committed 24 fouls while turning the ball over 12 times.

RJ Davis led North Carolina (6-1) with 27 points and Armando Bacot scored 22 along with 11 rebounds. Cormac Ryan tallied 15 points.

Backed by an energized home crowd, North Carolina jumped out to a strong start, shooting better than 42% from 3-point range with early scores from Ingram and Davis but Tennessee managed to withstand it.

Knecht, Zeigler and James helped pull the Vols within three at 13-10 five minutes in, but out of the first media timeout, the Tar Heels put together an 13-2 run aided by Tennessee turnovers to take a 28-12 lead with less than 12 minutes remaining in the first half.

Knecht ended the scoring drought with a corner 3-pointer and James finished a strong drive to the basket with a dunk to help the Vols to their own scoring stretch before Davis quelled it by banking in a three to extend North Carolina's lead to 33-19.

James was responsible for much of Tennessee's scoring production through the midway point of the first half but the Vols defense had little answers for the Tar Heels on the other end, who swelled their advantage to 20-points, 41-21 with seven minutes, 55 seconds before halftime.

North Carolina maintained its dominance throughout the rest of the half as foul trouble sent Aidoo and Vescovi to the bench for several minutes and forced Rick Barnes to put multiple freshmen on the floor at a time, including JP Estrella and Cade Phillips.

The half ended appropriately with a Mashack foul that resulted in Ryan free throws to send North Carolina into the intermission up 61-39.

Tennessee shot 53.3% from the field in the first 20 minutes but 8.3% shooting from beyond the arc, nine turnovers and 10 fouls led to the largest halftime deficit for the Vols under Barnes.

North Carolina's onslaught continued into the second half, pushing its lead to 73-52 after shooting 50.0% from deep just three minutes into the period.

Tennessee made shots, too but it continued to struggle at slowing down the Tar Heels offense. Knecht gave the Vols some life, though. He scored 12 of Tennessee's first 22 points of the half, but Davis' 3-pointer with 11 minutes, 43 seconds to go shifted momentum back to North Carolina but only momentarily.

Knecht carried the Vols offensively as the Tar Heels went cold for the first time all night. Tennessee chipped away and Zeigler's 3-pointer with less than nine minutes left cut the deficit down to single digits, 82-74.

Davis put North Carolina back up 10 twice with two 3-pointers in a one minute span and open the way for a run that all but provided the dagger for Tennessee's comeback efforts.

Knecht nearly brought Tennessee back despite being trailing by 20 numerous times.

He continues to bolster the Vols offensively, finishing with a game-high 33 points on 13-of-17 field goal shooting and 4-of-8- from three. Knecht wasn't the only scorer, though. Tennessee got plenty out of its returning veterans in James and Aidoo, too.

The Vols' 56% shooting from the field for the game and 50% from beyond the arc in the second half looked like the numbers of a winning team on the final box score, but Tennessee couldn't overcome the hole it dug itself in the first half.

North Carolina had a couple of scoring droughts but not many. The Tar Heels shot better than 57% from the field in the first half and 45.9% in the second. They finished 41.7% from deep.

Tennessee returns to its home floor for the first time in three weeks on Dec. 5.

The Vols play George Mason at Food City Center before hosting Illinois in another power clash on Dec. 9.

The Patriots are currently 5-1.

Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.

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