There was nothing out of the ordinary in Tennessee's exhibition game against Lenoir-Rhyne on Tuesday night.
Fresh off of a thrilling win at Michigan State two days before, the No. 9 Vols finished off their preseason slate with a 90-48 win over the Bears at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
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It appeared that Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes got what he wanted out of the performance. The veterans looked the part while the freshmen saw significant minutes.
Forward Jonas Aidoo paced Tennessee with 14 points while Dalton Knecht and Jordan Gainey finished with 13 points each. Forward Tobe Awaka totaled 11 points.
The Vols' freshmen combined for 83 minutes as guard Cameron Carr led the group with 9 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Knecht and Gainey started where they left off in East Lansing.
The two guards scored 7 of Tennessee's first 15 points as the Vols took a commanding lead less than four minutes into the first half.
It took nearly five minutes for Lenoir-Rhyne to come up with an answer, scoring their first basket at the 15 minutes, 35 second mark.
Tennessee went more than two minutes without a basket on the floor as its hot start cooled off but it was answered by a Aidoo dunk to go up 19-4. It helped spark a 8-0 run that included a drive and dunk from Carr.
Carr was one of three freshmen on the floor for Tennessee following the under 12 minute media timeout, joining Cade Phillips and Freddie Dilione V. He hit a 3-pointer to extend the Vols' lead to 26-6.
Tennessee made 8-straight field goal attempts in the final five minutes of the half to swell its lead to 49-20 at halftime.
The dominance carried over into the second with the Vols opening up with two quick scoring possessions, the second of which came off of a Knecht steal that led to a transition dunk for Aidoo.
Lenoir-Rhyne rattled off an 8-0 run early in the period to cut into the Vols' advantage at 54-28 before Jahmai Mashack ended the stretch with his first points of the game.
Bears' guard Cris Paez banked in a three deep in the shot clock that made it 56-31 with 15 minutes left but Awaka clapped back with 6 consecutive points on his own, highlighted by a one-handed dunk that provided a 62-31 lead.
The freshmen continued to make an impact in the half. Carr, who hit a 3-pointer a few possessions earlier, had another attempt from deep rim out but Phillips was there for a put-back dunk.
Tennessee featured an all-freshman lineup through the eight-minute mark with Estrella scoring 6 during that stretch. The starters re-entered for a four-minute stretch as Mashack and Gainey hit back-to-back threes.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Knecht and Gainey have made an immediate impact with Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler missing both exhibition games. Both players built off of strong showings against Michigan State.
Aidoo was productive in the paint on the offensive end. He led Tennessee in rebounding at Michigan State and followed up that performance by leading the Vols in scoring along with three blocks defensively.
Among the freshmen, Carr and Estrella played well in the first game on their home floor, combining for 26 minutes and 15 points. Carr tied with Josiah-Jordan James with a team-high seven rebounds.
UP NEXT
Tennessee will open the regular season on Nov. 6 against Tennessee Tech.
The Golden Eagles finished 16-17 overall last season and 11-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Vols beat Tennessee Tech, 75-43 in their season opener last year.
Tip-off at Food City Center is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network +.
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