No. 7 Tennessee beats Syracuse in Maui Invitational 1st round

HONOLULU (AP) — Dalton Knecht scored 17 points and Josiah-Jordan James and Jonas Aidoo each recorded a double-double to lead No. 7 Tennessee to a 73-56 win over Syracuse on Monday in the opening round of the Maui Invitational.

The Volunteers (4-0) shot 50% (13 of 26) from the field in the second half to pull away from the Orange (3-1), who shot 35% (21 of 60) for the game.

Knecht, one of three fifth-year players for Tennessee, had 15 points by halftime. He left the game at the 10:20 mark of the second half with an apparent left leg injury, but returned to the contest in the closing minutes.

James had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Aidoo had 14 points with 11 boards.

Tennessee out-rebounded Syracuse, 48 to 33.

The Volunteers shot 20 of 27 from the free-throw line, while the Orange were just 8 of 17.

Chris Bell scored 16 points and Judah Mintz had 15 to lead Syracuse.

Syracuse held a 24-21 lead after a Bell 3-pointer from the left wing with about six minutes remaining in the first half, but missed its last six shots from the field before the intermission.

Tennessee went on a 9-1 run over that stretch and took a 30-25 lead at the break.

BIG PICTURE

Tennessee will at least match its best finish in the Maui Invitational, when it claimed fourth place back in 2004. The Volunteers improved to 4-6 all-time in the event.

Syracuse took its first loss under first-year coach Adrian Autry, who was named as the successor to Jim Boeheim in March. Autry played for the Orange in the 1980 Maui Invitational. Boeheim retired after 47 seasons as coach at Syracuse.

UP NEXT

Tennessee will play either No. 2 Purdue or No. 11 Gonzaga in a semifinal Tuesday.

Syracuse will face the loser between the Boilermakers and the Bulldogs in a consolation game Tuesday.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball