3 takeaways from Tennessee’s win over Auburn

Dalton did it again.

Tennessee got it done again tonight, beating Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers, 92-84. It wasn’t easy — and it took some Dalton Knecht heroics (again) — but Tennessee kept their momentum going towards that No. 1 seed.

Here’s what stood out.

Dalton Knecht could bring Tennessee a National Title

With 12 minutes left, I texted a buddy who hasn’t been able to watch a lot of Tennessee basketball this year. I told him, ESPN2, now. I knew what was coming. You probably did too.

Dalton Knecht took over. He had that look in his eye. The Kobe look. The I’m-not-losing look.

Guess what? The game was his. He hit back to back three-pointers, got to the rim whenever he wanted — and won the game. I keep saying it, but Tennessee just hasn’t had that guy before. Rick Barnes hasn’t had the guy that can go take over a game during his time at Tennessee. He does this year, and that’s why he’s got his best shot at cutting down the nets this March.

“Obviously Dalton was terrific and he was really hard to stop,” Bruce Pearl said after the game. “One, he made a lot of tough shots, a lot of shots that were contested … when he went downhill, I thought there were times when we could have offered more resistance, more help off the ball. We didn’t.”

There’s not much left to say. Knecht is something special, and you should be soaking it all in while you can.

Zakai Zeigler continues to play at a ridiculous level

As good as Dalton Knecht is, Zakai Zeigler kept Tennessee afloat to end the first half. A couple of huge three-pointers kept Tennessee’s lead going into halftime, which as it turned out, was a huge moment in the game. The Vols got down by as many as eight point to open the second, and those clutch shots from Zeigler really stood out as Tennessee began to pull away late.

He struggled to open the game, but he settled in and really found a groove in the second half. Zeigler finished with 17 points and nine assists on the night. While Knecht clearly can take over and will Tennessee to a victory, Zeigler remains the sparkplug that can give the Vols consistency. He just makes everyone better when he’s on his game.

“I thought that, I thought Zeigler getting downhill against us was a huge factor,” Bruce Pearl said. “Johni Broome did everything he possibly could offensively and we had some pretty good balance. You score 84 points, should be enough.”

Tennessee is in the driver’s seat of the SEC

The Vols opened a daunting stretch tonight that features Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky and South Carolina to close out the regular season. Getting this win against Auburn goes a long way towards securing that potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and obviously working towards a potential SEC regular season title.

Tennessee closes with Alabama, South Carolina and Kentucky. If they do capture that first No. 1 seed in school history, they’ll certainly have earned it. That journey continues on Saturday at Alabama.