Why performance at Georgia was 'very important' to Vols' Jonas Aidoo
ATHENS, Ga. — Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka spent hours in the film room on Thursday.
A day after seemingly being out-toughed in a road loss at Mississippi State, Tennessee's two bigs were eager to reestablish their presence in the paint after getting their physicality tested by Tolu Smith III.
It worked.
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In their second-straight SEC road bout against Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday, the No. 5 Vols got the most out of both in their minutes on the floor, resulting in a 85-79 comeback victory.
"(The coaches were) very hard on me," Aidoo said. "We watched film for a couple of hours, about how we've got to be more physical and just, there's going to be games like this all during the season, in conference. We've just got to learn from that game and move on."
Aidoo scored 10 points and grabbed a game and career-high 15 rebounds for his fourth double-double in 16 games. His five blocks tied a career high.
For Aidoo, who entered Saturday averaging the second-most points among Tennessee's starting five, has put together a string of impressive performances this season while also struggling at times.
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Against Mississippi State, Aidoo was largely a non-factor down the stretch and spent critical minutes with foul trouble, eventually fouling out amid the Vols' comeback attempt that ultimately failed.
In a near repeat of that scenario at Georgia, Aidoo was on the floor when it mattered most and made the plays to match.
His dunk with three minutes, 28 seconds left in the second half pulled Tennessee within two and was part of a commanding 15-1 run to close out a game that the Vols (12-4, 2-1 SEC) trailed by as much as much as 11.
"It was very important. Coach (Rick) Barnes always preaches consistency to me," Aidoo. "I just have to start playing hard and play with a more competitive edge than I've been playing with in past games. That's really stuck to me."
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Because Aidoo played with the kind of consistency that Barnes harps about, it led to limited minutes for Awaka, who saw the floor for only seven.
He limited the fouls and scored six points, all of which came in succession during Tennessee's run in the first half. Two of Awaka's three rebounds came on the defensive end.
Though the Vols have already faced and will face teams with larger posts presences than Georgia, Aidoo and Awaka's ability to bounce back and avoid a second-straight road loss bodes well for Tennessee going forward.
"Defensively, I mean, (Aidoo's) length and what he does around the rim," Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. "I mean, he's got a good quick-jump, second-jump when he wants to. Again, I keep telling Jonas that I think he's going to develop into one of the best post guys in the country...He needs to touch the ball more, early. He and Tobe (Awaka), I think missed maybe one shot in the first half. But we still need to work at finding those guys in these games.
"I don't think we scored the last four minutes (of the first half) and I think in this league, you can expect this pretty much every night. (I'm) just really proud of the way the guys finished the game."
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