Despite losing a player in the tournament and two more in the championship game, the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team defeated Syracuse 73-56 in the opening round of the Allstate Maui Invitational on Monday morning.

Fifth-year guard Dalton Kencht missed nearly eight minutes of the second half with cramps, but scored a game-high 17 points en route to a 4-0 win over No. 7/8 Tennessee at SimpliFi Gym in the Stan Sheriff Centre. The Tennessee Volunteers rallied from an early eight-point deficit to defeat Syracuse, 4-0, and hand the Orangemen their first loss of the tournament.

Syracuse (3-1) led 19-11 with 10:23 to play in the first half, but the Volunteers quickly scored seven straight points in an 86-second span to pull the lead back to one. Tennessee started the half on a 19-6 spurt to take a 30-25 lead at the intermission.

Knecht scored half of Tennessee’s points in the opening 20 minutes, going 5-of-9 from the field, 3-of-4 from 3-point range and 2-of-3 from the free throw line. On the other end of the floor, Tennessee limited the Orangemen to 28.6 percent (8-of-28) shooting from the field, including 20.0 percent (3-of-15) in the final 10 minutes.

Tennessee scored six unanswered points in the second stanza to take an 11-point lead, 36-25, before exploding out to a 10-0 lead with 18:46 left in the game, which came just 1:58 into the final 44 seconds of the first half. After the two teams traded baskets, the Orangemen went on a mini 8-0 run over a 2:44 span to push the lead to 38-35 with 14:22 left in the game and sealed the win with a three-pointer.

The Orangemen closed the gap to three points with 8:35 left in the game, but never got any closer. Meanwhile, Tennessee went on a 12-0 run over the final 2:48 to close out the game by its largest margin of 17 points.

Knecht, who exited the game with 10:20 left and did not return until 2:24 was shown on the game clock, contributed four rebounds, three assists, two caps and a steal on 6-of-13 shooting.

Fifth-year guard Josiah Jordan-James notched his sixth career double-double with 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, the latter two falling short of his personal highs. He was 5-of-11 from the field and 2-of-4 from 3-point range, with two steals and zero turnovers.

Junior forward Jonas Aidoo finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, one and two shy of his career highs, respectively, marking the first time since November 2019 that the Volunteers have had two players score in double figures. He scored 12 points in the second half, the second double-double of his collegiate career.

Sophomore forward Chris Bell led the Orangemen with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Sophomore guard Judah Mintz, who averaged 23.0 points and 5.0 assists per game on the day, was limited by Tennessee State to just 4-of-14 shooting from the field and finished with 15 points and two assists.

The Volunteers led 18-6 in points off turnovers and 14-5 in second chance points. They also outscored the Vols 48-33, including 13-6 on the offensive end.

Despite losing two starters in the tournament, the Tennessee Volunteers showed resilience to defeat Syracuse in the opening round of the Maui Invitational. The Tennessee Volunteers will continue their journey when they face either No. 2 Purdue or No. 11/10 Gonzaga in the semifinals on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. (CDT).