Tennessee guard Shembari Phillips, right, shoots as Chaminade guard Kiran Shastri (33) defends while teammate Austin Pope (0) looks on in the first half during an NCAA college basketball game in the Maui Invitational Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)KNOXVILLE – Tennessee won just one of its three basketball games in last week’s Maui Invitational, but the positives from the trip outweighed the negatives.
The Volunteers flashed some promise against Wisconsin and Oregon by playing those ranked teams tougher than expected before salvaging the trip with a win against Division II member Chaminade.
Now back from the beaches of Hawaii, Tennessee (2-3) begins a December gauntlet Saturday with a visit from Georgia Tech and hopes to begin turning signs of progress into wins.
“I learned that we can stick with the best of them,” sophomore point guard Shembari Phillips said before Tuesday’s practice. “I learned that we have a tough group of guys and we’re going to give a lot of guys a lot of problems this year. Defensively we can really bother people, especially in the backcourt. We found out some good things.”
Against Wisconsin, a perennial Sweet 16 team, the Vols erased a 17-point first-half deficit and led early in the second half before the Badgers turned a six-point game with three-plus minutes left into a 74-62 win.