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Dalton Knecht hits 'ring me' celebration after Tennessee's win over South Carolina

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•03/06/24•

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Dalton Knecht
Randy Sartin | USA TODAY Sports

By defeating South Carolina Wednesday night, Tennessee won its first outright SEC regular season title since 2018. The Volunteers held on late to get the 66-59 victory and seal a first-place finish in the conference standings with a 14-3 record heading into the season finale.

Afterward, Dalton Knecht knew it was time to celebrate.

Knecht hit the “ring me” celebration after the game, channeling his inner Angel Reese after sealing the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament next week. He had a huge night, pouring in 26 points to lead the Volunteers.

It’s been a special year for Knecht, who emerged as Tennessee’s top playmaker after transferring from Northern Colorado. After his performance Wednesday night, his numbers improved to 20.6 points per game along with 4.6 rebounds while shooting 40.2% from three-point territory.

Despite those stats, Rick Barnes called Knecht one of the most selfless players on the team, and that has had an impact on the rest of the team, as well.

“I don’t want our guys standing around watching Dalton play,” Barnes said of Knecht. “When we call his number, we want him to do what he needs to do. He was the one that said, ‘Hey, put me in a ball, let them double team me and let me get the ball to Jonas [Aidoo] and Jonas will make a play.’

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“He said, ‘I’m going get it out of the double team.’ And the other night that worked for us and it worked again tonight because Jonas made a couple good reads out of there and the big threes— I think Jahmai [Mashack] hit one and Josiah James. I think it was like a hockey assist from Dalton.”

Inside the numbers: Tennessee defeats South Carolina to win SEC regular-season title

Tennessee took a 35-24 lead into halftime, but South Carolina rallied back after the break to make things interesting late. However, the Volunteers made some big plays on defense down the stretch which helped make the defense and propel them to a conference championship.

Tennessee’s offense overcame a rough second half, shooting just 7-for-25 from the field while South Carolina went 13-for-29 after the break. However, the Gamecocks went just 4-for-12 from three-point territory, which helped make the difference – along with a 22-10 free throw differential in favor of the Vols.

Tennessee now improves to 24-6 overall and 14-3 in conference play heading into the season finale on Saturday against Kentucky in Knoxville.