After losing by 16 points to Xavier last week in an exhibition, Tennessee basketball made the trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face Duke on Tuesday. However, this resulted in another lopsided exhibition loss for the Vols, this time 103-64.

Here are three quick takeaways from the defeat.

Terrence Hill Jr. Goes Down With an Early Injury

Tennessee star point guard Terrence Hill Jr. suffered an ankle injury early in the game. Hill went down with 15:23 on the clock in the first half with a left ankle blow. At the time of his injury, the Vols were already in a hole. The Blue Devils jumped out to a 12-2 advantage thanks to what was at the time was a 10-0 run. The run extended to 15 straight points before UT could begin to stop the bleeding.

While it was already the beginning of the end for Tennessee, it did force some others to step up into point guard minutes. Primarily, Troy Henderson got the call before exiting with an injury of his own that limited him the rest of the way. He finished with a productive showing in his time, posting 10 points on 3-for-6 shooting from the field and 2-for-4 from three in 15 minutes. He also had an assist.

Dai Dai Ames, who also gets a fair share of minutes off-ball, finished with a team-high 19 points on 8-for-16 shooting. He also grabbed two rebounds in 32 minutes. Freshman Marquis Clark came in and played 12 minutes while notching seven points and two rebounds.

Obviously, Tennessee is going to need Hill to be healthy going forward to reach its lofty goals. The pair of ugly exhibitions don’t change the fact that the Vols have their eyes set on a deep tournament run. That’s not happening without Hill, who has arguably been the team’s best player this preseason.

Defense Remains an Issue

what Rick Barnes was primarily irked by in the loss to Xavier last week was the lack of defense. Things the team worked on all offseason, such as how to defend a ball screen, seemed to go out the window once the ball was tipped.

Those lessons didn’t seem to be learned and applied this past week, either. A lot of the same issues, like switching on defense when the team wants to fight through a screen, reared their head. The result was far too many open shots to give a team of Duke’s caliber.

By the end of the game, the Blue Devils posted 103 points on 53% shooting from the field and 36.4% on threes. They also connected on 19-of-21 free throws

Sure, Duke has an elite offense and may be the best team in the country, but for the Vols to compete at the level they want to, they’re going to have to defend this type of opponent. So far, they’ve shown an inability to do so. If shots still aren’t falling, that’s an easy way to lose a lot of games.

Tennessee Will Need More From Juke Harris

In the first exhibition against Xavier, Juke Harris got to his spots a good bit, but the shot wasn’t falling. He finished with 15 points on 5-for-14 shooting from the field and 0-for-7 from three.

This time, it was much tougher for Harris to get off shots. Still, there was a concerted effort to get the Vols’ projected leading scorer the ball and let him carry a scoring load. In the end, he managed 10 points on 2-for-10 shooting from the field and 1-for-4 from three with two assists.

Harris also wasn’t an impact on the glass. He didn’t record a single rebound after ripping down 6.5 per game with Wake Forest last season. You expect the rebounding battle to be lopsided when the score is so one-sided, but getting more from him in this aspect could also have tightened up the 45-29 margin.

There’s no reason to think Harris can’t get more involved, though. He was among the best scorers in the country a year ago and is still adjusting to the change of scenery. The good news for Harris and the rest of the team is there will be some room for growth early in the year. Tennessee plays Wofford, Radford and Tennessee State before the first real test against Michigan State.