Tennessee's Dalton Knecht named SEC Player of the Week
Dalton Knecht is the SEC Player of the Week after totaling 41 points, eight rebounds and three assists in Tennessee basketball’s wins over Tennessee Tech and Wisconsin. The Southeastern Conference announced its weekly award winners on Monday afternoon, with Auburn guard Aden Holloway named freshman of the week.
Knecht had 24 points in 36 minutes while leading the Vols to an 80-70 win at Wisconsin Friday night at the Kohl Center in Madison. He finished 8-for-15 from the floor, 1-for-4 from the 3-point line and 7-for-9 from the foul line. He had five rebounds and two assists to go with three turnovers.
In the season-opening win over Tennessee Tech on Monday at Thompson-Boling Arena, Knecht finished with 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field. He went 2-for-6 from the 3-point line and was 3-for-3 at the foul line. He had three rebounds and an assist in 22 minutes in the win.
Knecht leads Vols in scoring (20.5 ppg) and minutes (29.0 mpg)
The 6-foot-6, 213-pound wing, a NCAA Transfer Portal addition for the Vols out of Northern Colorado, leads Tennessee in scoring, averaging 20.5 points per game, and in minutes, at 29.0.
He’s shooting 53.8% from the floor on 26 field-goal attempts and 30.0% from the 3-point line.
Knecht starred for the Vols in the preseason, too, scoring a game-high 28 points in Tennessee’s 89-88 win over Michigan State on October 29 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. He had another 13 points in the exhibition finale against Lenoir-Rhyne.
“Just trying to prove myself,” Knecht said after the win at Michigan State. “Everyone’s a good player in this game, so it’s just time to prove myself.”
Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee vs. Wofford, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network+
Tennessee (2-0), ranked No. 7 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 and No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, hosts Wofford on Tuesday (6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network+) before traveling to Honolulu next week for the Maui Invitational.
The Vols will start play in the first round against Syracuse on Monday, November 20. The game will start at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time and will be televised by ESPN2. Either No. 3 Purdue or No. 11 Gonzaga will be the opponent the following day.
The other half of the eight-team Maui bracket includes No. 1 Kansas playing Chaminade and No. 5 Marquette facing UCLA.
Another road test awaits Tennessee after the Hawaii trip, with a game at North Carolina on November 29 in the first edition of the ACC-SEC Challenge. It’s a 7:15 p.m. ET start on ESPN at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
