Dalton Knecht's huge dunk, 28 points weren't what impressed Rick Barnes the most

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Dalton Knecht caught the loose ball, coming off a Jahmai Mashack deflection, around the Michigan State foul line Sunday afternoon. The Tennessee basketball transfer wing pushed the ball up the floor, dribbling around his back to avoid a Spartan defender just past midcourt.

From there, he took two dribbles, gathered just inside the foul line and climbed high for a huge one-hand dunk over Michigan State’s Malik Hall, who tried and failed to meet him at the rim. 

“It was a two-on-one with me and Jo (Josiah-Jordan James),” Knecht said of the sequence, “and I just kind of took off and put that thing down.

“Pretty much RC (Rod Clark) told me to set a lane and step up, just go up and punch it, go up and dunk it, and that’s what I did.”

waaaaay up there pic.twitter.com/gwNgbShjjh

— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) October 30, 2023

The first teammate to meet Knecht after the play — after Knecht had drawn the foul on the dunk, in the process of putting No. 9 Tennessee up 57-46 with just over 15 minutes left in Sunday’s charity exhibition game inside the Breslin Center — was James. He bumped Knecht’s chest and put his hands out for a high five, all with a look of shock on his face.

Not everyone was caught off guard, though.

“It didn’t surprise me at all,” Tennessee guard Jordan Gainey said afterward. “That’s DK. DK’s gonna do that. DK is a really good player. Really good player.”

No. 9 Tennessee picked up a really good win, even if it was just a charity exhibition game, beating No. 4 Michigan State 89-88. 

Knecht, the 6-foot-6, 204-pound transfer from Northern Colorado, led the way for the Vols in his debut, scoring a game-high 28 points, each one seemingly more important than the last.

He scored the 28 points on just 16 shots, going 8-for-16 from the floor, 3-for-9 from the 3-point line and 9-for-11 from the foul line in his 34 minutes. He had seven rebounds and four assists, too.

“We think offensively that he’s an extremely gifted player,” head coach Rick Barnes said of Knecht during his postgame press conference.

Dalton Knecht in Vols debut: 28 points, 8-16 FG, 3-9 3FG, 9-11 FT, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 34 minutes

But forget those numbers. Barnes wanted to talk about Knecht on the other end of the floor after the game. And for all the right reasons.

“The way he came out and played defensive to start the game,” Barnes said, “I have not seen that at any point in time, which is a good thing because it’s on film now. And he’s raised the bar, which is a good thing. 

“Because I think he proved to himself today that if he wants to lock in and get it done, he can. And again, as a coaching staff, what we want see him is to play that hard defensively. And his offense is gonna take care of itself.”

It’s a familiar refrain from Barnes. Focus on the defensive end and the offense will flow. Sunday was apparently the first time it clicked on both ends for Knecht since his arrival at Tennessee.

“That’s the hardest I’ve seen him play defensively,” Barnes said, “at any point in time since he’s been with us.”

Knecht said it was nothing more than staying locked in. Focusing on the scouting report, paying attention to the game plan and having his teammates believe in him.

“Just trying to prove myself,” he said. “Everyone’s a good player in this game, so it’s just time to prove myself.”

He did more than prove himself on the dunk. He showed he belonged on a big stage, against an elite opponent in a tough road atmosphere.

His teammates were already believers.

“I’ve seen spurts of it,” Gainey said, “and I know he’s willing and capable of doing it and he really showed that. He was really good on the defensive end and with multiple efforts and playing from play to play. It was just amazing to see that.”

Sunday’s exhibition game was just the start, even if it was just an October exhibition.

“We all know we’re a good team,” Knecht said. “They’re a good team. So this was pretty much like a real game to us. We took it real, so we was just all locked in ready to play. We knew they were gonna punch us and we were just ready to punch them back.”