The Vols were pushed here, but eventually put all the pieces together.
It wasn’t always pretty, but No. 5 Tennessee got things done tonight at Missouri. It required a comeback, Dalton Knecht heroics and some mental toughness, but it eventually all clicked for the Vols in the second half.
We had us a good, old fashioned rock fight to start things in Columbia. Neither side could find the bottom of the net for the opening five minutes, until finally Jordan Gainey came up with a steal and a slam to break the seal. Ugly basketball continued for most of the first half with some really physical play around the rim.
Missouri was clearly not going to let Dalton Knecht beat them early. The Tigers played him close from the very start, sending double team after double team his way. Tennessee’s leading scorer had just two points in the opening half of play and no field goals.
Despite being 0-12 in SEC play, Missouri came to play tonight. Sean East paced the Tigers early on, helping Missouri take a three point lead into the halftime break.
Tennessee’s offense was nowhere to be found. Knecht was smothered and Zakai Zeigler couldn’t get anything going, but that would change after halftime.
Missouri races out of the gates to open the second half. East continued his hot shooting, pushing the Tigers out to a 42-35 lead. However, Knecht found his stroke to drag the Volunteers back into it. He drilled a couple of three-pointers to close that gap and began attacking the rim. With Knecht starting to play downhill, Tennessee took a 55-52 lead.
Knecht drilled another to make it a 58-52 game, then he found Awaka under the basket for two more. A quick 14-3 run put Tennessee in control of this one.
Dalton Knecht doing Dalton Knecht things. The best player in college basketball. pic.twitter.com/DsPlY2UHuc
— SEC Unfiltered (@SECUnfiltered) February 21, 2024
The Volunteers would hold on from there, pushing their lead out to double digits following a Zeigler three. Missouri would continue to fight down the stretch, but that 11 point lead was too much to overcome late.
Tennessee went on to win, 72-67. The Vols move to 10-3 in SEC play, while Missouri drops to 0-13.
Tennessee once again rode Knecht to this win when it counted, but they got some really big buckets from Jonas Aidoo to keep them alive early. Tobe Awaka also had some really big minutes, making a big difference in both the points and rebounding category.
Aidoo would finish with 14, while Awaka ended up with 18 points and ten rebounds. Knecht only scored 17 points tonight, but that stretch in the second half that he had ended up being the difference in this game.
Tennessee moves on and returns home on Saturday, set to face Texas A&M once again.