If Dalton Knecht doesn’t get 40 soon, Tennessee might need to pull his scholarship.*
Several times this year, the senior transfer has hovered in the 30s without making the leap.
In the game against Auburn (21-7, 10-5 SEC) on Wednesday night, he got all the way to 39, a career high, and Tennessee (22-6, 12-3) needed almost every one of his points.
Heading into the contest, Auburn and former UT head coach Bruce Pearl were as formidable as any opponent the Vols have faced of late. Just like Texas A&M, the Tigers from have had more success on Tennessee’s home court than almost anyone.
There were moments when it appeared as though Auburn and Pearl would sneak out of Knoxville with another W, but Knecht went off and knocked the Tigers out of conference championship contention in the process.
Auburn’s phenomenal big-man Johni Broome led the Tigers onto the court for pregame warmups to a chorus of boos.
Tennessee followed shortly after. The Vols were loose in both the pregame and the right-before-the-game warmups.
UT’s pregame huddle included all five starters plus Jahmai Mayshack, though that wouldn’t translate into anything meaningful in the contest.
Broome got the game’s first rebound but Santiago Vescovi came up with the steal on the Tigers first try. Zakai “Zip” Zeigler turned it over but Vescovi got another.
He fed Dalton Knecht as he raced to the basket and got fouled. Knecht hit both of his free throws to open the scoring just over a minute in.
Broome answered and then Aiden Holland scored on a miraculous bucket to give Auburn its first lead.
Next it was Jonas Aidoo’s turn. The junior center scored three buckets in a row to give the Vols at 8-4 advantage and here we go.
Going into the contest, the matchup between Broome and Aidoo was the most intriguing. Aidoo proved early that he had the advantage when Tennessee had the ball. Tobe Awaka clocked in with 16:05 remaining in the first half and Bruce Pearl all-too-familiar press was instituted.
It mattered not, as the Vols beat the press and Josiah Jordan James hit a pull up jumper at the end of the possession and the Vols led 10-6.
Awaka ended up with a loose ball and scored out of the media break.
He played aggressively throughout the first half and gave the Vols another lead at 14-13 with 12:57 in the first.
Despite going without a basket for 3:40 of gametime, Tennessee still had the lead with 11:30 to go and after a transition Knecht three, the Vols led by six at 19-13.
Broome hit a three soon after and Chaney Johnson hit a bucked that drew Knecht’s second foul. Before Barnes pulled him out though, Knecht hit a three on Tennessee’s next possession.
Back and forth they went.
With 4:31 left before the half, Knecht hit UT’s 12th free throw in as many attempts. Tennessee has struggled periodically at the line throughout the year so shooting 100% going into the final media timeout of the first half was a very positive sign, especially with the lead at 32-28.
Broome can play. He’s a pro. In some ways, he sets up the Auburn offense like Zeigler does for the Vols. When he wasn’t backing down his defender on the block or hitting contested threes, he was making precise passes that almost always resulted in a big bucket for the Tigers.
Awaka and Aidoo had their collective way with him on the offensive end of the court but when the Tigers had the ball, Broome was collected and affective.
With the clock at 2:05, Auburn took the lead on a pair of free throws from Denver Jones. Gainey then regained the lead for the Vols on a pair of free throws of his own. Chad Baker-Mazara then gave the Tigers the edge with another pair of free tosses and Mayshack put the Vols up 38-37. Back and forth they went.
Tennessee finally got a stop and Gainey hit a corner three and Pearl called timeout to steady the Auburn ship with 49 seconds left in the first.
Auburn’s K.D. Johnson no-doubted a three after the break and Barnes smartly called timeout after the Vols took over to get Knecht in the game with the shot-clock turned off.
If you read my last piece, you know my theory about momentum and how it only exists going into a stoppage of play.
Getting Knecht into the game was a ruse, as the ball never left Ziegler’s hands and his three-point attempt went in just before the clock expired. At the half, Tennessee led 44-40 with alllll the mo’.
Zeigler opened the second half with another three and Knecht followed with two free throws.
Vesovi picked up his third foul just two minutes and ten seconds into the second half and off to the bench he scurried.
The lead would grow to nine, but Broome scored two buckets after to shrink the lead back to four. After Aidoo got a tough bucket, Broome went right back at Aidoo on the ensuing possession. He was fouled and he made the basket. It was Aidoo’s third foul, as well. Broome would miss the free throw but Johnson got the rebound and threw it off of Jordan James as he fell out of bounds. Auburn’s ball.
With 14 minutes left Auburn took a 54-53 lead.
Awaka answered to put the Vols back in front but Lior Berman hit a three and put the Tigers back up by two at 56-54.
With 13:08 Vescovi reentered the game having scored zero points and having only taken one shot.
Zip missed his second consecutive front end of a one-and-one with 13 minutes to go and Auburn’s Jaylin Williams buried a pair to make it 61-55. Johnson added a couple more after.
With the Tigers up eight, Knecht went on a 6-0 run to close it to two.
Knecht then tied it with ten minutes to go at 66. Broome went right back and hit a three of his own. Heavywight bout, folks.
Zeigler answered with another three. Tied ballgame. Timeout Auburn.
Knecht gave UT the lead with an NBA midrange jumper and then followed it with another one. At the under 8:00 media break, UT was back on top, but just by three.
Zeigler again missed the first of his free throws but this was of the two-shot variety and he made the second.
Vols by four.
Broome answered deep in the shot clock, of course, but Knecht hit a three in Broome’s face to spread it to five. Auburn answered with a yet another three and with the same matchup, Knecht faked the three, scooted past Broome and yoked it. The crowd was in.
A couple possessions later, Pearl didn’t like a call and blew his top. It resulted in a technical foul on the former Tennessee coach but Knecht made just one of two. After all that, the lead was only three for the Vols. It was Knecht’s night, though, and every time he got the ball, the crowd went wild.
Zip was yet again at the line with 2:21 to go and the Vols up just four. This time, he made both.
Everyone in the building wearing Tennessee orange wanted Knecht to get 40, but his three-point attempt was wildly off. Luckily for those in Big Orange, Vescovi was there to gobble the rebound and score his lone basket of the game. As the clock wound under a minute, Tennessee’s lead was 90-82.
Vescovi’s basket sealed it and the Vols were 2-0 to start a 5 game stretch that features NCAA tournament teams.
The Vols travel to Tuscaloosa on Saturday before traveling to South Carolina on Wednesday. Tennessee closes out the season at home against Kentucky on March 9th.
*hyperbole
