The Official #9 Tennessee @ Wisconsin Game Thread, 9:00 PM ET, Peacock

[MoCo_Vol]

The fact this team hung 80 on the road while only hitting 5 3s has me excited as hell.

DK, Gainey, JJJ, and even Santi went at the rim aggressively all night.

 

[walkenvol]

They both are so inconsistent offensively. I think JJJ is better defensively. I think it's a push, myself.

JJJ has been the more consistent rebounder also

 

[YankeeVol]

 

[Chris4Vols22]

I love our fans and TBA is great. But these fans were not only raucous--they understand basketball.

And Bingo was his name-o

 

[vol94]

Great road win! I Don’t ever take road wins lightly.

 

[TennTom]

This legitimately might be one of our best teams ever. We are deep, experienced, confident, and talented. Dalton Knecht adds such an important dimension as a go-to, get-a-bucket guy we've missed in the Barnes era. It's so exciting to see Tennessee quite possibly take that next step.

 

[Pepe_Silvia]

I love our fans and TBA is great. But these fans were not only raucous--they understand basketball.

They understand how to lose.

 

[LibertyVol]

Winning on the road is always hard. Winning convincingly on the road is nearing impossible. This team just did both.

Tennessee won against a good team. If they had made their free throws it might have been different. However, to beat Tennessee you have to do everything well. They didn’t.

 

[VOLED]

So we lead the B1G at 2-0 with both being away games.

 

[ColinS]

I think Knecht hit the nail on the head - this team's chemistry looks infinitely better than the last few seasons.

Just so many options now. We can have two or three guys off their game and find production in other places.

 

[HiltonHeadVol]

Many thanks!

Hop thank you so very much for the link. I was able to watch this from Thailand baby. Appreciate you bro.

 

[Namorto1]

The fact this team hung 80 on the road while only hitting 5 3s has me excited as hell.

DK, Gainey, JJJ, and even Santi went at the rim aggressively all night.

Great comment. Spreading the court allowed us to attack. Winning by 10 against a quality opponent and only shooting 29% from 3-pt line.....this group has huge upside.

 

[VeeOhElEsYes]

This legitimately might be one of our best teams ever. We are deep, experienced, confident, and talented. Dalton Knecht adds such an important dimension as a go-to, get-a-bucket guy we've missed in the Barnes era. It's so exciting to see Tennessee quite possibly take that next step.

I was thinking the same thing during this game. I truly think this may be the best Vols team we've seen.

 

[Delmar]

Very excited about this team. Got so many good players that they can throw at teams. Really appeared to wear Wisconsin down. Gainey is a great addition and Knecht is a baller. The type of player we’ve been missing. Can score on anybody and in a variety of ways. Gonna be a fun year folks.

 

[walkenvol]

1 more hit by either team and I'm in a $40 bet win. Imo, we need to be better at the line!

I’ll take 19 for 23 every game and be elated! Your expectations are unrealistic

 

[BallerVolFan]

I feel sorry for opposing defenses this year trying to decide who they want to shut down. Imagine being forced to help on Knecht and then look over and there stands Vescovi and Gainey on the perimeter too haha

 

[TennTom]

I was thinking the same thing during this game. I truly think this may be the best Vols team we've seen.

I'm 65 years old. I NEED to witness a Tennessee Final Four team before I depart Rocky Top. I'm not asking for much.

 

[volfanhill]

1 more hit by either team and I'm in a $40 bet win. Imo, we need to be better at the line!

You losing money is not relevant. We shot well from the stripe

 

[Delmar]

I’ll take 19 for 23 every game and be elated! Your expectations are unrealistic

Yep. Will take that any night, every night.

 

[berryvol]

In here late because I had to watch this one on my phone. What a win. Defense buckled down when they needed to and the offense was mostly great all night. Knecht is exactly what we have been missing to go deep in march. Scary to think we look like this without ZZ and SV being 100% back into the flow of things. ALSO, thought we got killed on the glass, but looking at the box score postgame and we are dead even. Glad to see that with how awaka and Aidoo played their ass off tonight.

 

[volbound1700]

Great win

 

[All Vol!]

After 2 wins (one exhibition) at two really tough venues (Mich St and Wisconsin), I am really hugely impressed with how this team maintains composure in raucous atmospheres. It’s nice as a fan to have that kind of confidence when we play tough road games. There really are no more away venues that scare me all that much.

 

[BisonVol]

Small sample size on the season. And remember, Olivier would have one great game and then disappear for the next 3 or 4 games.

Not that James doesn’t do that too.

If you gave me the choice of Olivier or JJJ when both bring their A game, I’d definitely take Olivier because his A game was like having Ron Slay out there. Generally speaking, though, give me JJJ because he makes a positive contribution even if he isn’t on his A game. Can’t say the same for Olivier, at least not in his time here. Maybe he puts it together at Michigan. Time will tell.

 

[VolArmy74]

Ton of good tonight. Knecht is obvious.

Foul trouble took Vescovi out early. He never forced anything. Was 2-4 from the field, so he knew he didn't need to be taking a lot of shots. He scrapped out 4 boards and played excellent defense in the second half.

Aidoo was excellent. Wisconsin is a big banger team and he played probably more than Barnes planned because Awaka got in early foul trouble too. 5/8 from the floor, never took any really bad shots, played solid D and led the team in rebounds.

Awaka only played 12 minutes, but they were big minutes. 6 points, 4 when they were breathing down our neck and the offense was in a rough spot. And 6 boards.

Excellent game for JJJ. He did everything. 14 on 4/8 shooting, 6 boards. Solid defense.

ZZ and Mashack struggled, 2/8 from the floor. Last year if we had those two struggle and only got 5 from Vescovi, we probably get blown out.

 

[walkenvol]

Awaka has really developed that high release shot Barnes teaches his post players. Makes it super hard to block and results in soft bounces around the rim that often fall.

Seems like he averages one rebound about every 2 minutes. Could he average 15 boards if they played him 30 minutes?