Photo via Tennessee Athletics

A poor start to the second half downed Tennessee basketball in its preseason exhibition matchup against Duke. The Blue Devils opened the second half on a 23-9 run and never looked back, earning an 83-76 victory.

Here’s three quick takeaways on our first look at Tennessee in the exhibition matchup

Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Nate Ament Inefficient But Still Productive

All eyes were on five-star freshman Nate Ament in his first taste of college basketball, and Maryland transfer point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie. The two project as Tennessee’s best players. Neither were particularly efficient on the offensive end but found a way to still be productive.

Ament’s offense reminded me a bit of Chaz Lanier in the exhibition against Indiana last season. He looked off shooting the ball, particularly so from the perimeter where he missed all five three-point attempts. Ament finished the night with 14 points on five-of-19 shooting from the field. But to the freshman’s credit, he found another way to impact the game, grabbing 10 rebounds.

Gillespie was not as inefficient as Ament but still did not have his best night shooting the basketball, finishing the game five-of-21 and three-of-13 from three-point range. But he still found a way to impact the game, totaling eight assists to go along with his 17 points.

Neither played super well in the exhibition but I would caution against overreacting too much to an exhibition game.

Tennessee’s Front Court Provides Some Offense

Three of Tennessee’s four returning scholarship players from last season’s team were in the front court. It looked like a sneaky major strength of the team entering the season and the group performed like it against Duke.

Felix Okpara looked like the player we saw last season with a bit better touch around the rim, totaling 11 points on five-of-six shooting from the field while adding eight rebounds. JP Estrella played only eight minutes but showed some offensive skill by knocking down a top of the key three-pointer and having a beautiful assist to a cutting Cade Phillips.

Speaking of Phillips, he also looked a bit more comfortable offensively making both field goal attempts. But his top contributions came defensively where he made life difficult for Duke superstar freshman Cameron Boozer. Vanderbilt transfer Jaylen Carey did not have the best game offensively but is a bowling ball out there and did some good stuff defensively and on the glass.

But the true eye-opener of the group was true freshman DeWayne Brown. Coaches have raved about him all offseason and he’s looked good in practice. But how much would be contribute for a deep group? He didn’t check in until the 6:51 mark in the first half. He promptly made his first five shots and led Tennessee with 10 points at halftime. He ended with 10 points and six rebounds in 13 minutes.

Tennessee’s front court combined for 34 points on 16-of-20 shooting against the Blue Devils, giving the Vols serious offensive production.

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Duke Jumps On Tennessee Early In The Second Half

Boozer hit a difficult jumper to close out the first half and cut Tennessee’s lead to six points at the intermission. The Blue Devils proceeded to jump on Tennessee and take control of the game early in the second half.

Duke went on a 10-2 run in the first 1:46 of the second half to take its first lead of the game. For comparison, it look the Blue Devils just over seven minutes to score its first 10 points of the game. The Vols could not slow down Duke early in the second half as Duke scored 23 points in the first seven minutes to race out to a 60-52 lead.

Rebounding was a major issue for Tennessee in that stretch and over the course of the game in general. The Blue Devils grabbed 16 total offensive rebounds including six from Cameron Boozer. The freshman was simply phenomenal against Tennessee, totaling 24 points, 23 rebounds and six assists.

The Vols were never able to fully recover from the bad stretch to open the half. They cut Duke’s lead to two points at one point but never led again.

Final Stats

Up Next

Tennessee basketball gets things going for real in eight days. The Vols host Mercer in their regular season opener on Monday, Nov. 3 at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.