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Dalton Knecht, Zakai Zeigler lead No. 5 Tennessee in dominant win over Norfolk State, 87-50

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•01/02/24•

GrantRamey

Dalton Knecht
Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee basketball put an extended Christmas break to good use. Most notably on Tuesday night, Dalton Knecht looked refreshed and ready to go for the Vols scoring 15 points in an 87-50 win over Norfolk State at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Knecht sparked Tennessee (10-3) with 13 of his 15 points in the first half, helping break the game open with a dominant run before halftime. Zakai Zeigler scored 17 points on a career-high five 3-pointers and Josiah-Jordan James had eight points, seven rebounds and five assists. Tobe Awaka had 10 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for his first career double-double.

Norfolk State (9-7) got 15 points from Jamarii Thomas and 10 points from Christian Ings.

Tennessee took control the final eight minutes of the first half, closing on an 18-0 run to lead 43-18 at the break. It was a 23-2 run over the final 7:33 of the first half, after the lead was down to four, at 20-16, at the 7:47 mark. 

Knecht started the run with a 3-pointer, his first points of the game, at the 7:33 mark. It was the start of seven straight points, with a layup just over a minute later and two free throws with 5:34 left in the half.

He hit two more free throws at the 2:49 mark, dunked a lob pass with 1:28 to go to get the lead to 20 and hit a jumper on the next possession, with 54 seconds left in the half, to make it a 40-18 lead. 

Knecht ended the half with an assist after Santiago Vescovi hit a corner three to put the Vols up  25 at the break.

Dalton Knecht struggled in final three games before Christmas break

Knecht had struggled in the final three games before the Christmas break, combining for just 14 points in wins over Georgia Southern, North Carolina State and Tarleton State, going a combined 5-for-21 from the floor, including just 2-for-7 from the 3-point line, in a combined 58 minutes. 

He had scored in double figures in all of Tennessee’s first nine games of the season, including 37 at North Carolina, 21 against Illinois and 24 at Wisconsin. 

Knecht still entered Tuesday’s game leading the Vols in scoring at 15.7 points per game — next closest was 11.6 points per game from Josiah-Jordan James — while shooting 45.5% from the floor and 37.7% from the 3-point line.

Up Next: No. 5 Tennessee vs. No. 22 Ole Miss, Saturday, 6 p.m. ET, SEC Network

Tennessee hosts Ole Miss at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 6 in a 6 p.m. ET start on SEC Network. The Rebels improved to 10-0 with an 88-78 win over Cal in the early game in San Antonio on Saturday. The Vols go on the road in conference play for the first time on January 10 at Mississippi State, a 7 p.m. ET SEC Network game at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville

The win over Norfolk State was Tennessee’s first game back from the Christmas break, which included an 11-day gap between game. The Vols beat Tarleton State 65-46 on December 21 in the final game before the break. Tuesday’s win over Norfolk extended Tennessee’s win streak to six games.

Tennessee climbed to No. 5 in the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday, the team’s highest ranking of the season so far.

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