Revenge is a dish best served cold, and the Tennessee Vols served it up to the South Carolina Gamecocks on Wednesday night in Columbia, South Carolina 66-59. As it turns out, a raucous crowd of over 18,000 showed up just to see Tennessee clinch their first outright SEC title in over a decade and a half.
Dalton Knecht led Tennessee with a game-high 26 points. Zakai Zeigler added 13 points with 7 assists, 5 rebounds and just one turnover. Jonas Aidoo had 13 points and 9 rebounds.
Tennessee gradually moved out to a five-point lead at 15-10 after a pair of Aidoo free throws, as the Gamecocks repeatedly and inexplicably fired up missed three pointer after missed three pointer during the first half. However, the game remained tight until the end of the first half thanks to a suffocating defense from Tennessee. Over the final 10 minutes of the half, South Carolina scored just 9 points.
Meanwhile, Knecht took over in the half’s final 3 and a half minutes, knocking down 3 of his 4 first half three pointers. A Zeigler step back jumper at the buzzer put Tennessee up 35-24 at the half and firmly in control.
However, South Carolina finally woke up and remembered they’re allowed to attempt shots inside the three-point line. As such, much like their game plan in Knoxville, they got aggressive and drove the ball to the paint time and again, keeping the Tennessee lead at single digits for most of the half.
South Carolina shrank the lead to 6 at 40-34, and Rick Barnes called timeout. The Vols responded out of the break with 8 straight points, including a Knecht 4-point play to push the lead back to a comfortable 48-34.
But South Carolina would fight back and turn the game into a nail biter in the final two minutes. With Tennessee ahead 60-56 inside 30 seconds, Ta’Lon Cooper tried to draw a foul on Jahmai Mashack from behind the three-point line. However, Mashack held position and Cooper appeared to jump sideways into him to draw the resulting contact. The shot was offline, no foul was called to the ire of the home crowd, and Aidoo grabbed the rebound. The Vols were able to ice the game away at the free throw line.
In the process, the Vols avenged their only home loss of the season, a 63-59 loss to the Gamecocks back on January 30. The win was the Vols’ 13th in their last 15 games and was good enough to move their conference mark to 14-3. With Alabama and South Carolina now tied for second at 12-5 with one game to go, that clinched the outright regular season title for Tennessee, their first since 2007-08 and second since 1967.
Up next: Tennessee hosts the Kentucky Wildcats on March 9; South Carolina plays at Mississippi State on March 9.