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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team began its day Thursday by departing campus around 4 a.m. and ended it in front of more than 12,000 fans on Rocky Top. The Rock hung tough early in the game before the athleticism and depth of the University of Tennessee took over and led the Volunteers to an 83-48 victory in exhibition action from Thompson-Boling Arena.
 
The game was the first of two preseason exhibitions against Division I opponents that Slippery Rock will play this year and was the first exhibition against a school from the vaunted Southeastern Conference (SEC) in the nine-year tenure of head coach Kevin Reynolds. The Rock will close the preseason schedule Saturday with a 1:30 p.m. game at Central Michigan.
 
Slippery Rock hung tough with the Vols for more than 10 minutes of the opening period, trailing 17-16 at the under 8-minute media timeout, and finished the game with a 44-35 edge in total rebounds. The difference in the game was The Rock struggling to set up the offense and turning the ball over 30 times, including many unforced errors. Tennessee turned those 30 turnovers into 44 points to put the game away.
 
Thursday night's game, while unofficial, marked the Slippery Rock debuts for seven of the nine players that saw the floor.
 
The Rock finished the game shooting 34.5 percent from the field (20-of-58), 18.2 percent from 3-point (2-of-11) and 54.5 percent from the free throw line (6-of-11). SRU posted a 44-35 edge in rebounds and outscored Tennessee 14-10 in second chance points after pulling down 20 offensive rebounds.
 
Tennessee shot 46.8 percent from the field (29-of-62), 35 percent from long range (7-of-20) and 69.2 percent from the free throw line (18-of-26). Slippery Rock was in foul trouble early and finished the game with 25 personal fouls and three players fouled out of the game. The Vols committed just 13 fouls in the game and outscored SRU 20-0 in fast break points and 42-28 in the paint.
 
Merdic Green led Slippery Rock in his debut in the green and white, scoring 16 points and grabbing six rebounds. He was 7-of-12 from the field for the best shooting effort of the night by a Rock player as well.
 
Khyree Wooten also finished in double figures with 10 points and six rebounds. Amir Maddred tallied six points and grabbed four rebounds, while George Chase also scored six points and brought down a game-high seven rebounds. Tony Gates scored five points and grabbed six boards.
 
Tennessee got points from 13 total players, including multiple freshmen as the Vols look to rebuild with a young team that features eight freshmen and just two seniors this year. Robert Hubbs III scored 14 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and an 8-of-8 effort at the free throw line. Jordan Bone chipped in 11 points and John Fulkerson added 10 points.
 
Thursday night's game, while just an exhibition, is likely to be the largest crowd Slippery Rock will play in front of all season and the largest that many of The Rock players will play in front of during their basketball careers as the listed attendance was 12,414.
 
Slippery Rock will travel more than 600 miles by bus Friday and play at Central Michigan Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the final tune-up before the regular season begins next weekend at the PSAC-MEC Challenge at Shepherd University.