No. 2 Tennessee's defense gets enough stops vs. No. 7 Texas, Vols advance to Sweet 16

CHARLOTTE — Dalton Knecht wasn’t Dalton Knecht Saturday night. Tennessee’s star transfer wing couldn’t find good looks and forced bad shots against a tough Texas defense in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

It didn’t matter. Tennessee’s defense was Tennessee’s defense and got enough stops to avoid a nightmare. Now the Vols are marching back to the Sweet Sixteen for the second straight year after beating Texas 62-58 at the Spectrum Center in the Midwest Region.

The Vols (26-8) will face No. 3 Creighton in the third round in Detroit on Friday, with game times to be announced later.

Knecht scored 18 points and nine rebounds on 5-for-18 shooting, Jonas Aidoo finished with 11 and and Tobe Awaka had 10 point and five rebounds off the bench. Aidoo made three free throws in the final minute and Knecht added four in the final 10 seconds.

Max Abmas missed what would’ve been a game-tying three form the corner with 11 seconds left for Texas (21-13). The Longhorns got 13 points from Chendall Weaver, 13 points from Tyrese Hunter, 12 from Dylan Disu and 10 from Abmas.

After Tennessee started an abysmal 1-for-21 start from the 3-point line, Knecht and Josiah-Jordan James hit back-to-back corner threes to get the lead back to nine for the Vols with 4:23 to go, after the Longhorns had rallied from down 12 to make it a 45-42 game three minutes earlier.

Texas didn’t go away, going on an 5-0 run to get the lead down to two with 1:44 left, forcing a Tennessee timeout.

The Longhorns missed two shots at the rim with just over a minute left and Jonas Aidoo hit one of two free throws with 24.3 seconds left to make it a 58-55 lead.

The Vols couldn’t get shots to fall but won in other important categories.

Tennessee dominated Texas in rebounds (40-36), on the offensive glass (14-7), in second-chance points (12-6) and points in the paint (36-20).

Knecht drove and scored at the 12:59 mark to put Tennessee up 12. The shot put Knecht at 3-for-12 from the field but stretched the lead to the biggest of the night at that point. 

A 9-1 Texas run helped the Longhorns get back within four with 10:05 left after Tennessee dropped to 1-for-20 from the 3-point line after a Knecht miss.

The lead was down to three with 11:24 left after Max Abmas three, with the Vols at 1-for-21 from the 3-point line after a Santiago Vescovi miss. Aidoo dunked with 6:26 left to get the lead back to five.

Tennessee led 28-19 at halftime and by as much as 11 in the first half despite shooting 28.6% from the field and going 1-for-13 from the 3-point line during the opening 20 minutes.

The Vols built their biggest lead after a flagrant foul was called on Texas forward Brock Cunningham, who pushed Jordan Gainey in the back behind the ball. Gainey hit two free throws on the other end and Zeigler hit a corner three to make it a five-point possession and give the Vols their first 3-pointer after an 0-for-12 start from the arc. 

Knecht drove and scored on the next trip down, his first made shot from the field of the same, and the lead was 28-17 with 1:28 left before halftime. 

Awaka led Tennessee in both scoring and rebounding in the first half, with eight points and four rebounds, including three offensive rebounds, but he played just six minutes after picking up three fouls. 

Tennessee’s defense in the first half forced 11 Texas turnovers and held the Longhorns to 30.8% shooting from the field, including just 2-for-9 from the 3-point line. Dylan Disu had a team-high five points at the half on 2-for-9 shooting.