Rick Barnes took advantage of a rare opportunity in Tennessee's win over Vandy: Rest for Dalton Knecht

Dalton Knecht checked out Saturday night at Thompson-Boling Arena with 13 minutes, 20 seconds left in the second half. No. 9 Tennessee led Vanderbilt by 38 points, so Knecht put a towel around his neck and took a seat on the bench. 

The Vols didn’t need their star transfer on the floor and Rick Barnes took advantage of the opportunity. 

Knecht scored 14 points and had five assists and four rebounds in just 22 minutes, his lowest in a month, in Tennessee’s nearly historic 88-53 blowout of the Commodores. 

The Vols (19-6, 9-3 SEC) led by 31 points at halftime and built the lead to as much as 41 in the second half, as Barnes emptied the bench. It was the second-largest margin of victory over Vanderbilt in program history, finishing just three points shy of matching the 38-point record. 

Dalton Knecht played just 22 minutes vs. Vandy, lowest since January 6

Knecht wasn’t alone in getting a chance to rest. Five Tennessee players average 20 or more minutes a game and all five played under their season average against Vandy. 

Zakai Zeigler, who averages a team-high 29.7 minutes per game, had 14 points and five assists in 24 minutes. Knecht is second, averaging 29.2 minutes. He had played 30 or more minutes in eight of the last 10 games, including 34 or more minutes six times.

Josiah-Jordan James averages 29.0 minutes but played just 23 against Vanderbilt, scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Santiago Vescovi, who averages 26.6 minutes, had 12 points and five assists, going 4-for-5 from the 3-point line in 22 minutes.

Jonas Aidoo played 20 minutes, under his average of 24.4, and had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds. 

After both South Carolina and Auburn lost home games on Saturday — the Gamecocks blew a 15-point lead in the second half and the Tigers got handled by visiting Kentucky — Tennessee now goes to Missouri on Tuesday (7 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network) in sole possession of second place in the SEC.

With a quick turnaround, Barnes said during his postgame press conference he hoped the more restricted minutes for the biggest names in his rotation would benefit the Vols entering the season’s final three weeks.

“I do think both of those guys (Knecht and Zeigler), hopefully they can benefit from it,” he said, “because we do have a quick turnaround (on) Tuesday. Tomorrow we’ll just scrub the game (film) out and have a prep day to get ready and go play. But I guess we’ll find out after (this) game.”

Up Next: No. 9 Tennessee at Missouri, Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network

Redshirt freshman guard Freddie Dilione V played 13 minutes Saturday, doubling his average of 6.4 per game. It was his most minutes since playing 16 in the season opener against Tennessee Tech on November 6. 

Freshman wing Cameron Carr played 13 minutes, nearly tripling his average of 4.6 per game. Freshman forward Cade Phillips, who also averages 10.4 minutes per game, played 10 minutes.

“Really pleased,” Barnes said, “with the young guys trying to play the game the right way at the end. I thought that was really important. I thought those minutes were really good for them. But they respected the game in terms of trying to play it the right way.” 

Emptying the bench isn’t common for Barnes, but neither is a 31-point halftime lead in an SEC game. He described himself after the game as “a big rhythm person.”

He was willing to break that rhythm Saturday night.

“I think that when the team gets in a rhythm, you want to try to ride that wave,” Barnes said. “But with that thought in mind, I hope that because they have played so many minutes this year that it will benefit them, not playing as many tonight.”