The Tennessee men’s basketball team has yet to gather for its Thanksgiving meal.
Heck, the No. 18 Volunteers haven’t faced this Saturday’s challenge of No. 4 Villanova in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament, but that first mention of April transpired Sunday after their 94-62 humbling of East Tennessee State University inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
Olivier Nkamhoua’s career-high 23 points led Tennessee to its second win of the season in as many tries, while freshman point guard Kennedy Chandler continued to dazzle and sixth-year senior forward John Fulkerson made his debut coming off a thumb injury.
“Tennessee is pretty good and is probably the best team I’ve seen here since that Grant Williams and (Admiral) Schofield team (in 2018-19) that won 31 games,” ETSU first-year coach and former Vols assistant Desmond Oliver said. “Kennedy Chandler is the best point guard that I’ve seen in this building. If those guys can stay healthy, they’ve got a team that could go to the Final Four.
“They’re certainly a team that can advance deep into March.”