A little pregame chirping from the Kentucky side.
Dalton Knecht doesn’t need anymore motivation, but Kentucky gave him some for some reason on Friday afternoon. Kentucky guard Adou Thiero apparently hasn’t been impressed with Knecht’s hot streak, which has put him squarely in the conversation for the Wooden Award.
Thiero said that Knecht is ‘going to have to show us’ and that the Wildcats aren’t just ‘going to give him that respect’ during his media session before the game.
“I mean, yeah, he’s been doing what he’s been doing,” Kentucky guard Adou Thiero said on Friday, “but we’re another team. He has to come out and show us.
“We’re just not going to give him that respect just because of what he’s been doing on other teams. So he’s going have to show us the same thing.”
Knecht has scored 25+ points in every game since January 10th. He’s scored 30+ in four of those six games, and he’s done his best work to this point on the road. Knecht scored 37 points at North Carolina, 36 at Georgia, 32 at Vanderbilt and 28 at Mississippi State.
Seems like that would deserve a little respect, but that’s just me.
Knecht aside, Tennessee has to get the rest of the team going offensively. Teams are keying in on Knecht, but the Volunteers just haven’t gotten consistent production from anywhere else. Zakai Zeigler didn’t score a single point against South Carolina. Jonas Aidoo only scored six points on 2-8 shooting. Josiah-Jordan James continues to be non-existent offensively. That all has to change tonight if Tennessee wants to come out of Lexington with a win.
Tennessee plays at Rupp Arena against Kentucky tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.