Tennessee handles Florida, Knecht drops 39
The Tennessee basketball Volunteers defeated the Florida Gators by a score of 85-66 at home on Tuesday night. Considering the weather conditions in Knoxville, a respectable crowd showed up at TBA. However, when Dalton Knecht plays the way he did against the Gators, the Vols would have won even if a real-life alligator was chasing the rest of the team around the court. Knecht just finished up the highest-scoring 3-game stretch in program history with 28 points against Mississippi State, 36 against Georgia, and 39 on Tuesday night against Florida. Knecht is also the first Vol to have 35 points in back-to-back games since Allan Houston. The significance of Knecht’s play in the last 3 games cannot be understated and his demeanor reminds me so much of Chris Lofton. Lofton was never afraid to shoot, but what’s scary for the rest of the SEC is that Dalton Knecht can shoot 3s like Lofton and then turn around and dunk on your head. Knecht led the Vols to the 8th straight win in Knoxville over the Gators, and it’s nice to return the favor to them in basketball considering the way the football team struggles in the swamp.
Knecht wasn’t the only Vol to stack another great performance against the Gators as Jonas Aidoo followed up his 10-point, 15-rebound performance against Georgia with 19 points and 9 rebounds on Tuesday night. Zakai Ziegler also had another solid game with 7 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Even J.P. Estrella had a nice game off the bench. The freshman big tallied 7 points, a rebound, and a block in 9 minutes of play. While it’s hard to be negative about a 19-point conference win over a solid opponent I think it's fair to bring up the continued scoring struggles of Santiago Vescovi, and Josiah-Jordan James. Over the last 3 games, the highly experienced duo of James and Vescovi combined for 20 points. To put that into perspective Dalton Knecht scored 20 points in the last 7 minutes of the 1st half Tuesday night. I hate to harp on these 2 players who have been crucial to the success of the program for the last 4 years, but the way they have performed for the last 3 games will get this team beat in March. Dalton Knecht was always going to be the main scoring option on this team, but your two seniors cannot disappear completely. If the Vols can get just 8 points per game from both Vescovi and James this team will be tough to beat, and I expect them to show up soon.
Jordan Gainey also continues to hide to start conference play. If you told me 2 months ago that Jordan Gainey would start conference play averaging 0.75 points per game, I would assume that his arms fell off. Gainey can average an easy 10 points a game, but for the first 4 games to start conference play he just looks hesitant to shoot. Gainey is another player that I believe the Vols will need something from in March, and the sooner he gets it going the better the Vols will be. In all honesty, if the 3 players I just mentioned are all struggling and the Vols are still 3-1 to start conference play that can only be a good sign. When these players get back on track just imagine how crazy good this team can be. The Vols will be back in TBA on Saturday afternoon for a huge matchup with the Alabama Crimson Tide and will need another terrific effort to pull out their 4th conference win.