It was a quiet start for both teams on Tuesday afternoon.
With as much as 11 inches of snow on the ground at fans’ homes within driving distance of Thompson Boling Arena, the crowd was thin. But it wasn’t as light as one might expect after the largest snowstorm of the last couple of decades.
Both Tennessee (13-4, 3-1 SEC) and the visiting Florida Gators (11-6, 1-3) played subdued offensively for the most part throughout the games first several minutes and after a Jahmai Mashak three and subsequent steal, the under 12-minute media break came calling with the score at 16-11, in favor of the favored home team (Tennessee -10).
Tennessee controlled the narrative with several runs in the first half. The first, an 8-0 run, came from 11:36 – 8:11 on the clock while a couple of quick 6-0 runs followed.
Mashack played well in this one, and led the Vols early along with junior big man Jonas Aidoo. The 6-11 center has played his best collegiate ball this season and the Vols have needed it with inconsistent play from some of its formerly reliable stars.
More on that later.
Senior Northern Colorado transfer Dalton Knecht has been the most consistent Tennessee player in the 2023-24 season and Tuesday was no different.
Going into the half, he led all student athletes with 22 points and Tennessee led the contest 44-32. Aidoo led the Vols in rebounding with five and he added eight points and two assists in the first.
The second half was more of the same, with Aidoo and Knecht balling almost at will.
Aidoo scored Tennessee’s first three baskets to stretch the score to 50-34. The Vols then stretched the lead to 20 at 57-37 but Florida composed itself and got it down to ten just with 12 minutes to go in the game.
Knecht slowed the comeback with his first bucket of the second half and a few minutes later he hit his fourth three in as many attempts to spread the score back to 19.
With 7:40 to go, Knecht was fouled and went to the line for a 1-and-1* and hit both. The lead was 21 and the second made free throw capped a 12-0 run that lasted four minutes and 40 seconds of game play.
The dedicated crowd stayed the whole time for the most part. What else were they gonna do?
With the outcome of the game firmly in place, conversation on press row switched to Knecht. With four minutes to go, he tied his career high with 37 points. This small but dedicated crowd was in on it, too. After a Florida miss, the ball ended up in Knecht’s hands and the crowd went wild. Everyone not wearing Gator blue wanted Knecht to hit 40.
After a screen just west of the top of the key, he threw up a three and, of course…airball.
Well it hit the bottom of the net.
The night wasn’t over though, and the crowd’s fervor persisted the next time he touched the ball. This time it was a steal.
The next possession, though, saw a slashing Knecht get fouled on his way to the cup and two free throws later he had his career high with 39.
He and the Vol faithful would have to settle for that, but it still marked the 9th highest scoring total in program history.
He added eight rebounds and only had one turnover.
Aidoo finished with 19 points and ten rebounds. It was his 5th double-double of the season.
The Vols never trailed in the game and shot much better from the field and from the stripe. The shooting improvement comes as Tennessee enters a tough SEC stretch with road contests against Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Arkansas.
UT hosts Alabama on Saturday at 2 p.m. EST.
* 1-and-1 explanation: For those new to following basketball (we always try to open the door to new, perhaps hesitant fans), here’s an explanation of this term.
When a team fouls its opponent seven times in a half of play, the opposing team goes to the line to shoot one free throw shot. It is live and in play, so if it is missed it can be rebounded. If the shooter connects on the first free throw, they get an additional free throw, thus the 1-and-1.
