Dalton Knecht: 'It's just nice to start to feel 100 percent and get back to my old self'
Dalton Knecht looked like his old self Tuesday night, scoring or assisting on 18 of No. 5 Tennessee’s final 23 points of the first half as the Vols put away Norfolk State on the way to an 87-50 win.
After the game, he didn’t want any of the credit.
“I’d just say the coaches putting me in the right spots,” Knecht said, “and also big props to him (Zakai Zeigler) for finding me when I was open. Same with all my other teammates. It’s just they’ll find me in the right spots and the coaches put me in the right spots. Make it a lot easier.”
Knecht, after scoring 15 points over his previous three games, had 15 points against Norfolk State. He scored 13 of the 15 points in the final 7:33 of the first half, as Tennessee closed on a 23-2 run, including the last 18 points of the half to go up 43-18 at the break.
“I thought he got back to playing,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said during his postgame press conference. “And he understands. And I do think he’s learned a lot in the last couple weeks, where he’s realized he’s gonna have to work harder with getting open. Might have to work hard to get to his space, but we need him to be aggressive.”
Knecht finished 4-for-10 from the field against Norfolk, after going 5-for-21 in wins over Georgia Southern, North Carolina State and Tarleton State . He had four rebounds in 21 minutes Tuesday night to go with a season-high four assists.
After the struggles the last three weeks, Knecht said he has tried to make adjustments to his game based on film study, focusing on how opposing defenses collapse on his drives.
“Or just how if I move a certain way,” Knecht said, “how they move and just kind of reading the defense. It’s a big help to my teammates and coaches, just putting me in the right spots and looking for me.”
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In the 100-92 loss at North Carolina on November 29, Knecht scored 37 points, tying a scoring record for an opposing player against the Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center.
He left the game in the closing minutes, though, suffering an ankle sprain that he’s spent the last five weeks trying to get over.
Tennessee’s win over Norfolk State was the first game back from an extended Christmas break, with 11 days between games. Knecht put the time off to good use.
“Just being able to stay off of it was big for me,” Knecht said. “That was probably the biggest injury I’ve ever had so far and I got lucky. So it was just nice just to be able to go home and relax, rest up and stuff, and then get ready for Norfolk and now SEC (games).”
No. 5 Tennessee (10-3) starts conference play against No. 22 Ole Miss (13-0) on Saturday, a 6 p.m. Eastern Time start (TV: SEC Network) at Thompson-Boling Arena.
“It’s just nice to start to feel 100 percent,” Knecht said, “and get back to my old self.”
