LSU coach Matt McMahon explains why Tennessee is more than just Dalton Knecht

Dalton Knecht had another round of firsts Wednesday night in No. 6 Tennessee’s 88-68 win over LSU at Thompson-Boling Arena. He became the first player since LSU’s Ben Simmons in 2015 with at least 27 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals in a game.

He became the first Tennessee player to go for at least 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocks in an SEC game in at least 19 seasons. And only two other former Vols did it in non-conference play, with Grant Williams hitting those numbers in the 2018-19 season after Armani Moore did so in 2015-16.

Knecht scored 20 or more points for the 10th time in his 22 games at Tennessee, including seven of the last eight. He has scored 25 or more in seven of Tennessee’s nine SEC games while shooting 42.1% from the 3-point line in conference play.

But LSU coach Matt McMahon, when asked during his postgame press conference about the challenge of trying to stop Knecht, wanted to talk about more than just Tennessee’s star transfer wing from Northern Colorado.

“I think it’s important to note that they have really good players around Knecht,” McMahon said. “They’ve got some guys who are more experienced than NBA starting fives.”

Santiago Vescovi, Josiah-Jordan James and Zakai Zeigler have combined to start 273 games at Tennessee

LSU’s second-year head coach, without naming names, was referencing fifth-year senior guard Santiago Vescovi, who has now started a program-record 132 times in his 136 career games, while averaging 30.4 minutes per game. 

And fifth-year wing Josiah-Jordan James, who has 109 starts of his own in 130 games and averages 28.2 minutes per game. And even junior point guard Zakai Zeigler, who is up to 32 starts in his 87 career games, averaging 26.3 minutes per game. 

Zeigler had 17 points, nine assists and four rebounds in 36 minutes Wednesday night, coming off career highs with 26 points and 13 assists in Tennessee’s 103-92 win at Kentucky Saturday night.

James had 26 points of his own at Rupp Arena, then came home to add eight points against LSU, going 3-for-3 from the field, including 2-for-2 from the 3-point line, with four rebounds in 25 minutes. 

Vescovi finished with just two points and made only one shot from the field, but the field goal just happened to come with 5:56 left, after LSU went on a 13-0 run and had cut what was as much as a 26-point Tennessee lead down to 10.

Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee at Texas A&M, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN

The combo of Zeigler, James and Vescovi on the floor together is the seventh most effective three-player unit in college basketball this season, according to Evan Miyakawa’s adjusted efficiency ratings. The three entered Wednesday night having played 578 possessions together this season.

“I think it’s obvious (Knecht has) turned himself into a top-10 NBA pick,” McMahon said, “but if you spend all your time locked in on him, Zeigler and James go for 52 like they did on Saturday. 

“Because of their balance, because they’re really good on the defensive end and so explosive offensively this year, it’s a tough cover. So the goal is just to make them work and try and make (Knecht’s) shots as difficult as possible.”

Transfer guard Jordan Gainey scored a season-high 18 points off the bench and junior center Jonas Aidoo had 10 points and five rebounds in 29 minutes to further backup Knecht’s production and help Tennessee jump out to a 50-27 lead at halftime.

“Top-five team in the country for a reason,” McMahon said of the Vols. “They were terrific in the first half and we just had no answer on either end of the floor.”