What Jerry Stackhouse said about Dalton Knecht, No. 5 Tennessee after Vandy's 75-62 loss

Everything head coach Jerry Stackhouse said during his postgame press conference after Vanderbilt lost to No. 5 Tennessee 75-62 Saturday night at Memorial Gymnasium, where Dalton Knecht led the Vols to win after trailing by nine points in the first half:

Opening Statement

“I thought it was a competitive game. I would say it got away from us there in the second half. The team did a really good job of, I thought we guarded him well and then we gave up second-chance opportunities. I think that was the big difference in the game. They had 22 second-chance points to only our six. And we actually had more offensive rebounds than they did. But it’s just one of those games where they … thought we made them em miss some, first shots, but gave them too many second chance opportunities.”

Challenges presented by Tennessee’s offense with Dalton Knecht’s ability to go on a run on his own

“You just said it. I mean, he’s a tough cover. I thought his ability just to raise up the shoot over guys is why he’s getting the attention that he’s getting. Obviously he’s playing at a high level. I mean, four or five straight games that he’s gotten over 30 points in this league. We hadn’t had a lot of guys since my time here that probably could match that type of output, or maybe historically. But I mean, obviously, I think of Brandon Miller or somebody, a guy like that had that type of presence on the floor. I went to Ez (Ezra Manjon). I thought Ez guarded him really good in that last possession. But again, you take your best defender and you put him on him.  

“And then obviously, I think (Zakai) Zeigler gets going and now he’s making plays. I think it’s just they’re a tough cover. They’re a really good team and they do a lot of good things. I thought (Jonas) Aidoo, probably one of the most improved players in the league. The things that he does for them, establishing a post presence, being able to offer a some rim protection for them. I thought he was really good. I thought we held Santiago (Vescovi), held those guys in check for the most part. Josiah James was open tonight. 

“But I think the key guy played at an elite level for them and that they were able to create some separation in the second half, really. It really comes down to you have to make shots. You’re not going to beat a team like Tennessee shooting 36% from the field. And I thought we had some good looks that didn’t go down for us.”

Shots not falling in the second half for Vanderbilt when the game got away 

“Yeah, you got it. You know you go got to make shots. They were definitely, we saw them go down. We were confident in that first half. We made those shots. And then in the second half, obviously, (Tennessee) went on a little run. But I thought we still got great opportunities, got great looks at it and just wasn’t able to capitalize in the second half as well as we did in that during the first (half).”

Updating the status of Vanderbilt forward Ven-Allen Lubin

“Yeah, it was a cramp. He should be fine. Thought he thought he battled and competed down there all night, as obviously (we were) missing some size. We’d love to have a couple more bodies, but I mean, our young guys, when they came in the game, just didn’t understand the magnitude of playing a team like that. The physicality that’s warranted. I thought they were able to kind of take advantage of us a little bit when we went to the bench early on. So we kind of rode the older guys a lot, probably longer than we should have in the second half. 

“But they did the same thing. I mean, (Tennessee was) playing in desperation mode as well. And we knew they were going to play in desperation coming out in the second half. We knew that was gonna be a tough first four minutes. And it was just the little things. I mean, I thought we got a great stop, but we didn’t secure the rebound to kick it out and they get a three, and that’s just a momentum changer. And then we have a missed layup on our end and the game kind of just kind of flowed their way from there.”

His confidence level in this Vanderbilt team at this point and moving forward

“I think it’s a lot to be (had). I mean, internally, we see our team getting better, seeing our guys getting better, seeing exactly, different guys having different moments in different games. I think Jason (Rivera-Torres), he’s adjusting to starting now, he’s been coming off the bench. Understanding the difference between playing against starters in this league as opposed to bench players. And he’s adjusting to that a little bit. He hadn’t had kind of the shooting performances that he’d had before that, so we got to kind of weigh that a little bit. But I like him in there because it gives us the opportunity to get off to a better start offensively just with his presence and what he brings out there.  They got to account for him because he’s shooting in the thirties, almost close to somewhere between 35% and 40%. But it is probably … most guys probably wouldn’t say, but I really love my team even though they’re 0-6 (in the SEC) because they’re doing the things that we’re asking to do and they’re getting better. And I think that’s all you can really ask for. And hopefully we can break through. I was hoping that we would break through tonight in a big way against a great team that would get a really good confidence booster for for them. But, we know what’s coming. We just got to keep grinding at it, keep working at it and understand that everything happens in its time. And that time just hadn’t come yet, hadn’t been formed yet. But I’m optimistic and hopeful that it’ll come soon.”

Vanderbilt hanging around and playing tough against ranked teams like Memphis and Tennessee, if those losses are more disappointing because he sees what the team is capable of

“No, man, I’m thankful for it all. It was great to kind of come from where we came from when we first started here the last couple years. We had a couple of NIT opportunities and thought we were ready to take the next level, but the reality is that we lost quite a bit (of players), right? … So it’s just some injuries and different things at the start of the season, it just was a setback. And now we are where we are. But it’s part of it. It’s things that we, why we are in this business, why we coach this game. We try to teach basketball, use basketball as a parallel to life, that you’re going to face some adversity. You’re going to have to keep battling through those things. And that’s where we are with these guys. I mean, they’re not despondent. And what I’m saying, obviously they’re disappointed, but they’re not despondent to the point where they know that … they continue to get better, continue to do the things that we ask that a little more. A little more effort, little more higher clip.  A lot of it’s mental. It’s more mental than really physical. It’s about the want to. And I think that’s what they’re learning. And it doesn’t feel good. It absolutely doesn’t feel good to be where we are. But at the same time, we know that it’s part of the big picture and where we need to go. 

If Vanderbilt recruited Dalton Knecht when he was in the NCAA Transfer Portal

“No.”