Dalton Knecht's 39 points carries No. 4 Tennessee past No. 11 Auburn, 92-84
No. 11 Auburn had taken control in the second half against No. 4 Tennessee, silencing Thompson-Boling Arena. Then the Vols got the ball to Dalton Knecht and got out of the way. Again, he put his team and a crowd of 22,547 on his back.
Knecht nearly singlehandedly erased an eight-point deficit in the second half, scoring 27 of his 39 points after halftime to lead the Vols to an emotional 92-84 win over Bruce Pearl and his Tigers in Knoxville.
Knecht scored his 39 points on 12-for-21 shooting from the field in 33 minutes for Tennessee (22-6, 12-3 SEC). He was 5-for-8 from the 3-point line and 10-for-12 at the foul line. Jonas Aidoo scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half and added a team-high seven rebounds. Zakai Zeigler had 17 points and nine assists, but also committed four turnovers, all in the first half.
Auburn (21-7, 10-5) got 21 points from Johni Broome, leading four Tigers in double-figures.
Dalton Knecht’s second half: 27 points, 9-16 FG, 3-6 3FG, 6-8 FT
Tennessee led by nine points in the opening minute of the second half, but Auburn answered with a 23-6 run to take a 63-55 lead with 12:17 left. The Vols answered by scoring 22 of the next 31. All Knecht did was score 18 of the 22.
Knecht hit a three with 12 to go to give Tennessee some life and wake the arena up, getting the deficit down to five. From there he would make eight shots from the floor and four free throws over the next 11 minutes.
The game was tied, thanks to Knecht, with 9:55 left. He dunked to get the Vols within three, hit two free throws to make it a two-point game, then hit a deep three to tie it at the 9:55 mark. After a Broome three on the other end, Zeigler came down and hit one of his own with 9:06 left.
Knecht has now scored 30 or more points in a game six times this season, with the 39 against Auburn matching the season high he set with 39 at North Carolina on November 29.
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The 27 he scored in the second half was a season high for a single half, but was the sixth time he had scored 20 or more points in a half, with five of the six being second halves.
Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee at No. 14 Alabama, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
Tennessee’s intense close to the regular-season schedule now turns to a road game at No. 16 Alabama on Saturday night (8 Eastern Time, ESPN) at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.
The final four games on the schedule for the Vols are all against ranked teams and all Quad 1 games. After hosting No. 11 Auburn, Tennessee has back-to-back road games at No. 14 Alabama and at No. 18 South Carolina next Wednesday, a 7 p.m. ET start on ESPN2. The Gamecocks upset the Vols 63-59 on January 30 in Knoxville.
Tennessee hosts No. 16 Kentucky on Saturday, March 9 in the regular-season finale on Senior Day at Thompson-Boling Arena. It’s a 4 p.m. ET game on CBS.
