When Tennessee tips off Thursday night in its NCAA basketball tournament opener against Saint Peter's at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, the Volunteers will have gone more than two weeks since tasting victory.
That's not an enjoyable feeling right now.
"It's been a long time since we lost two back-to-back games, so getting back in here was kind of about getting back to the basics," Tennessee assistant coach Rod Clark said Tuesday during a news conference. "It's a fine line when you get into the tournament with preparing for your opponent but also doing what you do and getting better at what you do as a team, especially this late in the year.
"When we practiced on Sunday, we didn't know our opponent, so it was about getting back to us. We went at it. It was good."
The Vols (24-8) are seeded second in the Midwest Region, while the Peacocks (19-13) are seeded 15th, which is where they were seeded two years ago when they pulled mammoth upsets of Kentucky and Purdue on their way to the Elite Eight. Thursday's game has a scheduled 9:20 tip on TNT.
Tennessee's 66-59 victory at South Carolina on March 6 was followed by a celebration inside Colonial Life Arena as the Vols clinched their first outright Southeastern Conference championship since 2008. The Vols lost 85-81 to visiting Kentucky three days later, which was not overly shocking given that fifth-year senior guards Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi went through an emotional senior day ceremony before struggling.
What wasn't as easy to explain was last Friday's 73-56 loss to Mississippi State in the SEC tournament quarterfinals, when the Bulldogs had their way inside against the Vols for a second time this season. Tennessee's top inside tandem of junior forward Jonas Aidoo and sophomore forward Tobe Awaka not only joined their teammates in enduring defensive lapses but combined for five points.
"You can't let anybody have 40 points in the paint," Clark said. "I'm pretty sure that was our worst defensive performance of the year. I'd rather a team hit 15 3-pointers than score that many points in the paint. We've got to get better in that area, and we will.
"We got really spread out, and everyone was worried about getting driven, so they kind of got nailed to their guy a little bit and didn't stay in their gaps like they normally do."
Aidoo fouled out of Tennessee's 77-72 loss at Mississippi State back on Jan. 10, so perhaps the Bulldogs have simply been a bad matchup for the Vols. Yet Tennessee has struggled against other teams with impressive inside play, most notably during the nonconference against Purdue and North Carolina.
"We've been working on standing our ground a lot in practice and protecting the paint more," Aidoo said. "For me, I've got to start demanding the ball more. I've got to start doing that more often."
Post play is arguably the most inconsistent element to Tennessee's mostly successful season to this point. Should Aidoo and Awaka be effective Thursday night and beyond, that long-awaited March run for the Vols could finally be in store.
"It's will. That's all it is," Clark said. "You have to be willing to hold your ground down there. In watching the film, we were very direct with them. In order for us to win and keep going, they have to be better.
"It's nothing to hide or run from. We have to get better, and there is no better time to get better than right now."
Knecht honored
Vols fifth-year senior guard and Northern Colorado transfer Dalton Knecht was named Tuesday afternoon as an Associated Press first-team All American.
Knecht is just the second Tennessee player in the last four decades to earn AP first-team status, joining Grant Williams in 2018-19. The only other Vols to earn such recognition were Bernard King (1976-77) and Dale Ellis (1982-83).
All in the family
Clark weighed in Tuesday on Thursday night's unique showdown of Vols junior guard Zakai Zeigler facing his half-brother, Saint Peter's freshman guard Armoni Zeigler.
"A lot of our locker room knows Armoni, because on Zakai's visit, Armoni came down," Clark said. "He was here late last summer. I love Armoni. He's like a little brother to all of us. To be honest, it's great and it feels like family, but for those 40 minutes, I'm going to hate Armoni, and I think everybody on our team will.
"It's a great storyline, obviously, and it's a beautiful moment for their family."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.