Tennessee basketball fell three spots to No. 10 in this week’s AP Poll after its three games at the Maui Invitational in Honolulu last week.
The Vols are coming off a 1-2 week in Hawaii earning a double-digit victory against Syracuse before falling to then-No. 2 Purdue and then-No. 1 Kansas in less than 24 hours. Purdue is No. 1 in this week’s AP Poll while Kansas is No. 5.
Tennessee’s offense was inconsistent throughout the tournament but struggled badly in the final 12 minutes of its loss against Kansas. Transfers Dalton Knecht and Jordan Gainey as well as super senior Santiago Vescovi were the Vols’ best offensive players in the tournament.
Knecht led the way with 15.2 points per game while Vescovi totaled 11.7 and Gainey totaled 10 points per game.
More From RTI: Tennessee Basketball Takeaways From The Maui Invitational
Tennessee is one of five SEC teams in this week’s AP Poll joining No. 12 Kentucky, No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 21 Mississippi State and No. 23 Alabama.
It was a busy week for nearly every SEC team as most played in various tournaments across the country. Alabama, Arkansas and Texas A&M all earned losses.
Tennessee returns to the court on Wednesday night after a week off as they travel to Chapel Hill to face No. 17 North Carolina. The top 25 matchup is part of the inaugural ACC-SEC Challenge. There’s a number of other notable matchups in the challenge including No. 7 Duke at Arkansas, No. 8 Miami at No. 12 Kentucky and No. 14 Texas A&M at Virginia.
Tipoff between the Vols and Tar Heels is at 7:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday night at the Dean E. Smith Center. ESPN is broadcasting the game.
