After Dalton Knecht scored 40 points vs Kentucky ... he needs to share the basketball more?

After Dalton Knecht scored 32 points to carry Tennessee to a win at Vanderbilt in January, his Tennessee teammates crowded around for his postgame press conference. The only question junior center Jonas Aidoo had was when Knecht was going to hit 40.

He had gone for 39 against Florida two games earlier. He had scored 28 or more points in three of four games and would score 31 more three days later against South Carolina.

The answer to Aidoo’s question was at home against No. 15 Kentucky on Senior Day at Thompson-Boling Arena. Knecht scored a season-high 40 points to lead No. 4 Tennessee while going 14-for-29 from the field. He was 6-for-15 from the 3-point line and 6-for-9 at the foul line.

But the Vols lost 85-81 after the Wildcats shot 15-for-29 from the 3-point line.

“At the end of the day,” Knecht said after the game, “we still lost and that 40 don’t really matter at all.”

Dalton Knecht vs. Kentucky: 40 points, 14-29 FG, 6-15 3FG

What matters to head coach Rick Barnes moving forward is how Knecht can help himself on the floor. That means sharing the basketball. Even on a night when he drops 40.

“I told him when I was taking him out,” Barnes said, “I said, man, you got to get the ball your teammates.”

It’s not that Knecht was denying his teammates scoring opportunities. Jonas Aidoo had 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting, including a 1-for-5 first half. Zakai Zeigler finished with 17 points on 6-for-15 shooting, scoring 14 of the 17 in the second half.

Josiah-Jordan James scored all eight of his points in the second half but was just 2-for-9 from the field. Santiago Vescovi was scoreless after missing all five shots he attempted.

“I think Dalton’s got to do a better job of getting his teammates involved when teams are really pressing up on him,” Barnes said. “But I also think his teammates have got to make some of those open shots for us.”

Knecht sharing the ball more, and his teammates taking advantage, would open up the floor more for the constantly hounded junior wing. 

Barnes said he told Knecht he has to work just as hard at getting defenses off of him as he works to beat opposing defenses himself. 

“And the way you do that is to let those guys go get easy baskets,” Barnes said. “No coach is going to sit there and watch guys roll to the the basket, get dunks, giving up wide-open shots. You’re not going do that.

“… He’s a high-level competitor and he’s a guy that, as we know, every shot he shoots, he thinks is going in. I just thought he settled on some of them.”

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He can’t settle against his defender. He can’t let other defenders settle on his teammates, either. 

“Just learning when the defense collapses,” Knecht said, “when to shoot or when not to shoot. I was reading not my defender, but the other guys around, (where) the secondary defender is … and a lot of that is just staying composed.”

Barnes had an example in mind: A play in transition that had James open to Knecht’s left.

“I asked him, I said, why didn’t you pass away?” Barnes said. “(He said) I didn’t see him. Because he’s so intent (to score). And he’s a terrific scorer and that’s what happens when you can score like that. But that’s where he’s going to continue to get better.”

He has to continue to learn. Even in Game 31, the regular-season finale, before the postseason gets here. 

“We’ve just got to go into film and be ready to learn from our mistakes,” Knecht said, “and just get better and ready for the SEC Tournament and then get ready for the big one.”