KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 17 Tennessee defeated No. 20 Illinois inside the Food City Center on Saturday by a score of 86-79.
UT's starting five players were Jonas Aidoo, Dalton Knecht, Zakai Zeigler, Santiago Vescovi and Josiah Jordan-James.
From the get-go, the Vols were attacking the basket early, and Tennessee forced three turnovers within the first 3 minutes of the game.
Knecht grabbed a rebound off a Marcus Domask missed jumper. This set up an impressive offensive possession from Jonas Aidoo. His slam dunk put the Vols up 11-8 and fired up a sold-out Tennessee crowd.
With under 12 minutes left in the first, Tennessee was up 23-19. The Vols were 10-17 from the field and 2-3 from the field. Meanwhile, the Fighting Illini were 3-8 from beyond the arc, and shooting 50% from the field.
Santiago Vescovi's three extended the Vol's lead by eight with just about 10 minutes left in the first half. However, Coleman Hawkins answered back shortly after with a deep three to make it a three-point game.
Jordan-James lit the crowd on fire with a huge slam dunk to put the Vols up by five with just under 8 minutes to go.
Tennessee went on about a four-minute scoring drought, and a Quincey Guerrier three gave the Fighting Illini their first lead of the game, 31-30.
Zakai Zeigler sank a jumper to take back the lead before a media timeout was called.
Tennessee became less efficient on the back end of the first half. The Vols scored 28 points in the first 10 minutes, but only put up six in the last.
Knecht led with eight points going into the second half, but all of those points came within the first 6 minutes of the game.
To start the second, Illinois led by two, 36-34.
The Fighting Illini maintained their lead for the first four minutes of the half, but a Zeigler steal forced a thrilling Josiah-Jordan James dunk to give the Vols back the lead, 45-44.
Knecht then extended the lead further with a layup and a deep three to make it a six-point game. By this point, Tennessee fans were louder than ever, and the noise was starting to get to Illinois.
Jordan Gainey made a nice layup and then a three on Tennessee's next possession to extend the Vol's lead by nine. The Vols outscored Illinois 26-18 in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
A Jahmai Mashack turnaround jumper gave Tennessee its first double-digit lead of the day, 65-55.
Illinois was struggling to knock down shots, and the crowd noise was not making it any easier. A Jonas Aidoo layup put Tennessee up 69-57 before the Fighting Illini called a timeout with seven minutes left on the clock.
Illinois cuts it to a seven-point game with 2:54 left, but Tennessee remained in the lead for the rest of the game.
Knecht led the team with 21 points, and Santiago Vescovi led in rebounds with 9. UT outscored Illinois 52-43 in the second half to give the Vols a 86-79 win and put them on a two-game win streak.
For Illinois, Guerrier and Shannon Jr. Terrence each had a game-high 22 points for the Fighting Illini.
Next up, the Vols will take on Georgia Southern inside the Food City Center on Dec. 12. Tip-off starts at 7 p.m.
