Easy start to March Madness vs St. Peter's was what Tennessee basketball needed | Estes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Four rapid observations from Tennessee basketball’s 83-49 rout of Saint Peter’s on Thursday night in the first round of March Madness:

This was more like it for Vols

These first-round matchups can produce magic for which the NCAA Tournament is known.

Much of the time, though, they look like this: A start-to-finish mismatch.

No. 2 seed Tennessee meant business, and underdog 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s was in trouble. For the Vols (25-8), it was a timely response after sleepwalking through an ominous defeat in their lone SEC Tournament game.

No drama here. Tennessee opened the game with a 29-7 run and pushed it to 46-20 at halftime, removing all doubt and sending the neutrals in attendance home early on a weeknight. By the end, it was mostly orange in the stands and seldom-used Vols on the court.

Before that, the Vols had dominated the overmatched Peacocks (19-14) in all areas, particularly in the paint. Saint Peter’s missed 15 of its first 18 shots and had little answer for Tennessee’s defense. Or Jonas Aidoo. Or Dalton Knecht. Or pretty much anyone or anything in orange and white.

One lopsided victory doesn't make this tournament for Tennessee, of course. But on a day when SEC colleagues Kentucky, South Carolina and Mississippi State went 0-for-3 as higher seeds, the Vols' performance stood out.

And, hey, it's not always so easy in this tournament. Did I mention that they showed the end of Kentucky’s loss to Oakland on the big screen at the Spectrum Center? That sight earned loud cheers from Tennessee fans in the building.

As lopsided as it gets

Tennessee shot 64% in the first half, with Aidoo and Knecht (13 points each) combining in the first 20 minutes to outscore Saint Peter’s by themselves.

Aidoo, especially, was a problem for which the Peacocks lacked an answer. He scored 15. Before being sidelined during part of the second half, Tobe Awaka has success, too, going 3-for-3 off the bench in the first half. And Knecht was his usual force, scoring a game-high 23 and sinking a 3-pointer on the Vols’ first possession to set the tone immediately.

Meanwhile, the Peacocks on offense? They were shooting 23.3% at halftime. In that decisive opening half, the Vols outrebounded the Peacocks 25-11, outscored them 20-4 in the paint and had 12 assists to St. Peter’s two.

I could keep going, but you get the drift.

If there was a concern for Tennessee

A trend in Tennessee’s March Madness struggles of recent years has been shooting woes for veterans Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James. In the opening moments of Thursday’s game, each tossed up a brick from 3-point range that appeared to miss the rim.

Vescovi did go on to make a couple of 3-pointers, but James didn't shoot another and failed to score. Neither was needed for much offensively in this game, but that won’t be the case moving forward.

And now, it’s Barnes vs. Texas – again

While Vols coach Rick Barnes hangs his hat in Tennessee, his biggest coaching ex is still Texas.

As an example of the NCAA selection committee’s mischievous side, the seventh-seeded Longhorns await the Vols in Saturday’s second round. Texas shut down weary Colorado State 56-44 in Thursday evening’s opening game, setting up a prominent weekend NCAA Tournament storyline: Barnes facing the program he coached from 1998 to 2015.

Again.

Texas and Tennessee played each other the past two regular seasons. Barnes returned to Austin for a 52-51 Tennessee loss in 2022, and the Vols won 82-71 in Knoxville in 2023. Something tells me the reunion vibes won’t be quite as cozy with much higher stakes in Saturday’s rubber match.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: March Madness rout of St. Peter's was easy for Tennessee basketball