Rick Barnes provides injury update on Dalton Knecht

Tennessee’s SEC-ACC showdown on the road with the North Carolina Tar Heels did not go as planned, as the Volunteers left Chapel Hill with a 100-92 defeat. To make matters worse for Tennessee and head coach Rick Barnes, their leading score on the night, Dalton Knecht, picked up what appeared to be a concerning injury.

During the postgame press conference, the Volunteers head coach addressed his guard’s injury and provided an update on what exactly happened.

“Knecht stepped on somebody’s foot [and] turned his ankle,” said Barnes. “It looked like he got it pretty good because he’s the kind of guy that bounces back. I saw a thing; he stepped on somebody’s foot and rolled it.”

Before going down with the ankle injury, Knecht was in a career night for Tennessee. The six foot 6 senior from Thornton, Co, was super effective and efficient from the field, scoring 37 points in 37 minutes while shooting on 13 of his 17 field goal attempts, 7-8 free throws, and 4-8 from beyond the ark. Knecht was also Tennessee’s leading rebounder in the game, with six on the night.

Tennessee will have some time between Wednesday’s matchup with North Carolina and their next opponent, George Mason. The Volunteers will host the Patriots on Tuesday, Dec. 5.

Tennessee struggles to stop UNC big, drops third straight game

The Volunteers found themselves in a huge hole early on against the Tar Heels, giving up 61 points in the first half. Tennessee trailed by 22 points at the intermission, down 61-39. North Carolina big man Armando Bacot was a significant contributor to the Volunteers’ first struggles as he dominated Tennessee in the paint and on the boards. Overall, for the game karma, the North Carolina big man finished with 22 points on 6-8 shooting from the field and 10-13 from the free throw line to go along with 11 rebounds, picking up yet another double-double.

With the loss, Tennessee drops to 4-3 following their third straight loss. Those three losses will definitely impact Tennessee’s current rank at No. 10 in the country and potentially push them out of the top 25. However, it should be worth noting that all three of the Volunteers’ losses have come at the hands of top 25 ranked opponents, with the first two coming at the hands of the nation’s top two teams: the Purdue Boilermakers and Kansas Jayhawks.