Dalton Knecht shares SEC Player of the Week honors after scoring 64 points in two road games

Dalton Knecht on Monday was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week along side Alabama’s Mark Sears. Knecht scored 64 points in road games at Mississippi State and Georgia last week. The transfer junior wing had 28 in Tennessee’s 77-72 loss in Starkville on Wednesday and 36 in the 85-79 win in Athens on Saturday.

Sears, the SEC’s leading scorer, scored 31 points in a home win over South Carolina and had 22 in a win at Mississippi State Saturday night.

Knecht previously won SEC Player of the Week honors on November 13, after scoring 17 points against Tennessee Tech and 24 at Wisconsin. He’s the first Tennessee player to win the award multiple times in one season since Grant Williams did so three times in 2018-19. Admiral Schofield won the award twice during the 2017-18 season.

Knecht is now averaging 31.1 points per game through four road games, after scoring 24 at Wisconsin in an 80-70 win on November 10 and 37 in the 100-92 loss at North Carolina on November 29, when he tied the scoring record for an opposing player at the Dean Smith Center. 

He’s shooting 61.4% from the field in road games and 48.3% from the 3-point line.

Rick Barnes was asked on Saturday after the win at Georgia what has made Knecht rise to the occasion in road games so far this season. 

“I have no idea,” Barnes said, drawing a laugh, “I don’t.”

‘When he gets going, he’s a confident player’

“When guys are good basketball players … I’ve always believed that guys that have success like this, it goes back to their training,” Barnes added, “their work ethic, their passion and love for the game. 

“And Dalton’s one of those guys. You see him come back to the Food City Center (or) Pratt (Pavillion) every night. He’s going to be in there after practice. He’s one of those guys that puts his time in and when he gets going, I mean he’s a confident player.”

Knecht, who transferred to Tennessee from Northern Colorado, leads the Vols in scoring at 17.2 points per game, good enough for fifth in the SEC. He’s shooting 47.7% from the field on 197 attempts this season and is shooting 39.7% from the 3-point line.

On Saturday he scored 13 points in the final eight minutes, helping rally Tennessee from an 11-point deficit in the second half. He had 26 points in the second half at Mississippi State, bringing the Vols back from down 15 before losing in the final minute.

Up Next: Tennessee vs. Florida, Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

Knecht’s 36 points at Georgia was the 43rd time in Tennessee program history a player scored at least 36 points. It was the 13th on the road and the 10th in an SEC road game.

It was the sixth 36-point performance by a Tennessee player in the last 33 seasons (1991-2024), including his second. He joined Kevin Punter Jr., Ron Slay and Grant Williams (2) in the 36-point club.

He’s the fourth player in program history to score 35 or more on the road multiple times, despite playing just four road games so far. He joined Bernard King, who did so three times, Allan Houston (2) and Grant Williams (2).

“Dalton’s an extremely talented offensive player,” Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey said on Monday, “and hadn’t been around a lot of guys like him at that size. And I think he’s continuing to settle in and find his spots and pick his spots. 

“And (he) just really did a great job down in Athens of taking that game over. And his teammates did a great job of getting him the ball and spacing the floor for him to be able to be able to operate.  He’s extremely talented and, you know, glad he is on our side.”