Tennessee Basketball recently returned from its trip to Honolulu for the 2023 Maui Invitational tournament but will soon be back on the road.
No. 10 Tennessee (4-2) will take on No. 17 North Carolina (5-1) on Wednesday night in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The Vols dropped two games in the Maui Invitational tournament to the then-No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country in Kansas and Purdue. Tennessee defeated Syracuse in the opening round of the tournament last Monday afternoon.
With Tennessee gearing up for another Top 20 game this Wednesday, head coach Rick Barnes and forward Dalton Knecht spoke with the media in Knoxville on Monday prior to practice in the Food City Center.
Knecht was Tennessee’s leading scorer in two of the three games in the tournament while finishing as the second-leading scorer in the third game. Knecht averaged just over 15 points per game across the three-game span despite dealing with lower-body cramps during the tournament.
“That was the first time I ever cramped up, ever,” Knecht said on Monday. “I’ve never cramped in my life. Even my parents were kind of shocked. It still is pretty sore from the last day. I felt it still when I got back. I’m going to be fine. Just got to drink more water and Gatorade.”
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Barnes and Knecht both gave their closing thoughts on the tournament while also turning their attention to the upcoming Top 20 matchup against North Carolina coming up this week.
Check out both interviews from Monday in Knoxville below:
HC Rick Barnes
Forward Dalton Knecht
