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."
This season's Final Four is on April 2 in New Orleans.
The Buccaneers, picked third in this season's Southern Conference race behind the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Furman, entered Knoxville with the challenge of a quick turnaround after Friday night's opening 69-67 loss at Appalachian State.
Nkamhoua, the junior forward from Finland, averaged 2.3 points per game last season but amassed his 23 Sunday on 9-of-14 shooting. He made both of his attempts from 3-point range and collected eight rebounds.
"He's grown a lot in a lot of different areas," Vols coach Rick Barnes said, "and I still don't think he's close to scratching the surface to where he can be as he continues to understand the game the way he needs to. Now he's going to have to learn to deal with scouting reports."
Said Nkamhoua: "I think I've got a lot more confidence in my game, and I think a lot of that comes from my teammates having confidence in me and coaches having confidence in me."
Fulkerson's return was announced with a put-back dunk that gave the Vols a 24-11 advantage at the 12:23 mark of the first half. The lead swelled to 43-23 on a pair of Chandler free throws with 2:29 before halftime, and it was 46-23 at intermission.
Chandler had all 16 of his points at the break on 6-of-8 shooting, while Fulkerson wound up with six points and 10 rebounds.
"We made strides from our last game," Barnes said, referencing Tuesday's 90-62 trouncing of UT Martin. "We weren't very good defensively, and some things where we took steps forward today were with things that we talked about."
Tennessee's competition now ratchets up sharply. Villanova, after all, is the only men's program within the past decade with multiple national championships.
"We're not really going up there to prove ourselves," Nkamhoua said. "We are who we are, and they are who they are, and we know who they are. We have to focus on ourselves and getting better every day.
"It's a long season ahead, and we have a lot of tough games ahead."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.