WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & SportsVols close Maui trip with rout of Chaminade

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) - Coming off two tough losses and with its best post player on the bench with a sore leg, Tennessee could have come out flat in its final game at the Maui Invitational.

Instead, the Vols went out with a flourish.

Jordan McRae scored 25 points, Trae Golden added 17 and Tennessee rolled over Chaminade 86-60 in the seventh-place game Wednesday.

Tennessee (3-2) rebounded from a pair of difficult losses in Maui by breezing past the Division II Silverswords. The Vols took control with a big opening run and didn't let up, hitting 15 3-pointers while shooting 57 percent.

Tennessee did it without much help from forward Jeronne Maymon, who played just 2 minutes after he had 32 points and a tournament-record 20 rebounds against No. 8 Memphis. Cameron Tatum added 12 points for the Vols, who shut down Chaminade defensively in the first half and had a 15-0 advantage on the break.

"I thought it was one of those games that's really tough to get prepared for, mentally more than anything," Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin said. "But I thought our guys did a good job competing out of the gate and set the tone defensively."

Chaminade (3-3) closed out last year's tournament with a win over Oklahoma, but there wasn't much chance of another upset.

The Silverswords had a hard time matching up with Tennessee's size and athleticism, unable to stop the Vols on defense while shooting 35 percent at the other end in their third straight lopsided loss.

Matt Cousins had 17 points to lead Chaminade.

"I'm really proud of these guys," first-year Chaminade coach Eric Bovaird said. "We played hard through the adversity. They never turned on each other and started blaming people for this and that. They just kept working hard to try to get better and better."

Tennessee ended up in the seventh-place game after opening the tournament a couple of almost-there losses to quality opponents.

The Vols started with a 77-67 loss to No. 6 Duke in their first big test under Martin, hanging in until the Blue Devils pulled away late.

Tennessee overcame a sluggish first half against Memphis on Tuesday and chipped away at the lead in the second half. The Vols forced overtime when Maymon scored on a drive with 5 seconds left but missed late shots in both overtimes to lose 99-97.

Even with Maymon sitting out with a bruised leg after the first 30-20 game by a Vol since 1996, Tennessee overwhelmed Chaminade, opening the game on a 16-4 run and keeping the pressure on. The Vols made 18 of 32 shots, 6 of 10 from 3-point range, and had 12 assists to lead 45-25 at the half.

McRae had 14 points by halftime and kept firing, scoring six more in the first 5 minutes as Tennessee pushed the lead to 26.

McRae was 5 for 7 from 3-point range, and the Vols hit 15 of 27 overall to leave Maui on a high note.

"We played three really good teams and got to see what we were capable of," Golden said. "We've got to continue to work on our defense, really continue to work on our offense and keep our team continuity together."

Bovaird has said the Maui Invitational is a good learning experience for his team, and the Silverswords learned some good lessons.

The upset specialists had another underdog victory in their sights in the opener, leading UCLA by five in the first half, only to get run over in the second half for a 32-point loss.

Chaminade never stood much of a chance against Georgetown on Day 2, down by 12 by the midpoint of the first half and never making a run to lose 88-61.

The Silverswords were in the same kind of situation against Tennessee, another long and athletic team.

Chaminade scored the game's first basket but went more than 6 minutes before dropping in another one. The Silverswords had trouble getting shots off inside and were uncharacteristically off target from the perimeter, hitting just 2 of 10 from beyond the arc.

Chaminade started to drop some shots in the second half, hitting 14 of 28, but it was far too late by then.

"It's definitely a learning experience," said Chaminade's Benny Murray, who had 13 points. "It's a privilege to play against some of these teams that are here that you always see on TV and stuff, so you've just got to learn from it."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.