DeWayne Brown II scored 17 points and had 17 rebounds, Terrence Hill Jr. also scored 17, and No. 8 Tennessee beat Wofford 90-59 on Tuesday night to open the season.
Tyler Lundblade scored 12, Troy Henderson finished with 10 points and the Vols (1-0) shot 52.3% from the field.
Wofford (0-1) was led by Cam Lowe with 14 points and as a team shot 31% from the field. Cutter Sisk and Cris Arias added 10 each.
Tennessee led by three at halftime but outscored Wofford 56-28 in the second half to pull away. The Vols used a 36-10 run across the first 14 minutes of the second half after a sluggish first half.
A 3-point play from Hill was all Tennessee got for an almost eight-minute stretch in the first half, leading to a 6-0 Wofford run. Wofford outrebounded the Vols going into halftime, but Tennessee led 34-31 at the break.
The Vols took a step forward after exhibition losses to Xavier and Duke, both of which were by double digits.
After three straight Elite Eight finishes, coach Rick Barnes retooled Tennessee's lineup by adding eight transfers, the top seven of whom averaged a collective 15.3 points a game last season. However, what was missing in the exhibitions was defense, which has been a focal point in the days leading up to the start of the season.
Wofford is coming off a 19-13 season. The last time Wofford and Tennessee met was in the NCAA Tournament's first round in 2025 in Lexington, Kentucky. The second-seeded Vols won 77-62.
Wofford: The Terriers play at North Carolina on Friday.
Tennessee: The Vols host Radford on Monday.
