ESPN College GameDay crew explains why Tennessee needs more than Dalton Knecht to beat Kentucky

Dalton Knecht has been the answer for Tennessee throughout the season — but will he rise to the occasion against Kentucky inside Rupp Arena?

ESPN College GameDay co-host Andraya Carter believes the Vols will need more of a team effort against the Wildcats, and explained why Tennessee needs to fix this ahead of Saturday’s AP Top 10 matchup.

“Even Coach [Rick] Barnes talked about it after their loss to South Carolina — he said there are times where guys are standing around and waiting for Dalton Knecht to make a play,” Carter told the table. “It’s not just the South Carolina game where it looked like that. When they played Georgia it looked like that at times, when they played Mississippi State. It looks like Dalton Knecht is always the answer offensively.

“They have got to find some rhythm and some confidence from other guys against good defensive teams.”

Luckily for Tennessee, Kentucky’s defense has not been great to this point. While the Wildcats are getting away with it more often than not averaging over 88 points per game. Despite this, Kentucky lost two overtime games that saw them give up more than 90 points against Texas A&M and Florida (this past Wednesday), respectively.

Still, if Kentucky can force turnovers and those players other than Knecht are caught “standing around,” the Wildcats are one of the better teams in transition in the country.

“When you’re playing against Kentucky, especially in Rupp Arena, when they rebound and on the occasions when they defend — they’re the fastest team in the country,” Bilas said. “They’re one of the best transition teams. You have to make Kentucky play a half court game and Tennessee is well suited to do that. … And I think Tennessee they’ve got the best defense in the Southeastern Conference.

“I don’t think Kentucky’s defense is anywhere near where it should be. They’re a great offensive team and I think their defense is going to help Tennessee’s offense in this one.”

Still, Knecht is expected to get his against the Wildcats. Averaging 20.1 points per game, he is tied with Alabama’s Mark Sears for the SEC scoring title entering Saturday. He has gained a reputation of being one of the best road performers in the country and is averaging 34.0 points per game across Tennessee’s last two road games against Georgia and Vanderbilt.

Tip-off between the Wildcats and Volunteers is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET live on ESPN. Kentucky is a 1.5-point betting favorite inside Rupp Arena.