Dalton Knecht's 37 points not enough for Tennessee against red-hot North Carolina, 100-92

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — No. 10 Tennessee limped to the finish line in the Maui Invitational last week, with tough losses to Purdue and Kansas, the two top-ranked teams in the country, on back-to-back days in Honolulu. The Vols never got off the starting line Wednesday night at No. 17 North Carolina.

The Tar Heels torched Tennessee for 61 points in the first half and Dalton Knecht couldn’t dig the Vols out of a 24-point hole after halftime, falling 100-92 on the road in the first edition of the ACC-SEC Challenge at the Dean Smith Center. 

Knecht dazzled with 37 points on 17 shots in 37 minutes to carry Tennessee (4-3). Josiah-Jordan James had 20 in the losing effort, Jonas Aidoo scored 13 and Jordan Gainey added 11.

Knecht’s 37 points tied the record for the most by a visiting player at the Dean Smith Center, matching La Salle’s Lionel Simmons in January 1988. He became the first Tennessee player to score 35 or more points since Grant Williams scored 43 at Vanderbilt in January 2019.

Knecht left the game with 1:39 left with what appeared to be a left leg injury, having to be helped off the floor without putting any weight on the injury.

North Carolina (6-1) had three players go for 20 or more, with RJ Davis scoring 27, Armando Bacot scoring 22 and Harrison Ingram adding 20. Cormac Ryan had 15.

Carolina’s biggest lead of the night was 24 points, 76-52 with 17:30 left. The Vols went on a 22-6 run to make it a game, cutting the deficit all the way down to seven, at 84-77 with 7:27 left, after a James three. 

Davis hit a three on the other end for Carolina and Bacot hit two free throws on the next trip to get the lead quickly back to 12. It was an 8-0 UNC run to make it a 15-point game before Gainey could answer with a corner three with 5:05 to go.

Aidoo hit two free throws in place of Knecht, who was fouled while being injured on the play with 1:39 left, to cut the deficit to six, but it was as close as Tennessee would get.

Dalton Knecht, Josiah-Jordan James scored 27 of 39 for Vols in first half

Knecht had 15 points in the first half and James scored 12 as the two combined to go 10-for-14 form the field. The rest of the team went 2-for-16. 

Tennessee shot 53.3% from the field in the first half, but it didn’t matter. The Vols went 1-for-8 from the 3-point line while North Carolina couldn’t miss.

The Tar Heels shot 57.6% from the field, made 7 of 16 3-point attempts and were a perfect 16-for-16 at the foul line. They scored 20 points off nine Tennessee turnovers. 

They had four players in double-figures by halftime. Bacot and Ingram both had 15, Ryan had 12 and Davis scored 10. 

North Carolina became the first team to score 60 or more points in a half against Tennessee since February 15, 2006. That was a 101-87 Tennessee win over Auburn, a game in which the Tigers scored 64 points in the first half. 

The Vols at Kentucky in January 2022 gave up 52 in the first half and 55 points in the second half of a 107-79 loss at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

Tobe Awaka, Freddie Dilione V sidelined with injuries

Tennessee was playing without sophomore power forward Tobe Awaka (ankle) and redshirt freshman guard Freddie Dilione V (foot).

Awaka, who did not participate in Monday’s open practice at Thompson-Boling Arena, injured the ankle early in the 73-56 win over Syracuse in Honolulu. He played each of the next two days, though, playing 12 minutes against Purdue and seven against Kansas. 

He’s averaging 3.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in 9.2 minutes per game through six games this season. 

It was Dilione’s fourth straight missed game after injuring the foot against Wofford two weeks ago.

Up Next: Tennessee vs. George Mason

Tennessee returns home to host George Mason on Tuesday, a 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network+, starting a stretch of six home games over the next seven on schedule.

Illinois comes to Knoxville on December 9, a Noon ET start on CBS and it’s Georgia Southern on December 12. The Vols play North Carolina State in a neutral-site game in San Antonio on December 16.

Tarleton State on December 21 is the final game before the Christmas break and Norfolk State on January 2 is the final non-conference game, with SEC play starting January 6 at home against Ole Miss.