NCAA Basketball: Purdue, Duke, fall in latest top 25 power ranking
By Joey Loose
16. Tennessee (4-3)
We knew that Tennessee was going to have a strong team again coming into this season. This Volunteers squad has been elite defensively in recent years with Rick Barnes’ system and has gotten great offensive production out of transfer Dalton Knecht already. However, the Volunteers dropped two tough games at the Maui Invitational and saw their brutal schedule continue this week.
Tennessee played one of their worst defensive games in recent memory, giving up 61 in the first half en route to a 100-92 loss at North Carolina. The aforementioned Knecht was fantastic with 37 points on just 17 field goal attempts, while Josiah-Jordan James scored 20. Three straight games away from home against top-level opposition certainly isn’t easy, though this defensive effort isn’t easily forgotten.
Looking at the metrics, the Volunteers’ defense was actually pretty strong during that three-day stretch in Maui, even in the games where they were defeated. Going into Chapel Hill and coming out with a win was going to be a difficult task, though it’s their last true road test for some time. Next week, Tennessee gets a pair of intriguing home games against George Mason and Illinois, hoping to end this three-game losing streak.