ATHENS, Ga. — Tennessee basketball led by 14 points in the first half and trailed by 11 points in second half before storming back to defeat the Bulldogs 85-79 at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens.
Here’s four quick takeaways.
Dalton Knecht With Another Big Game
When Dalton Knecht scored just two points in the first half at Mississippi State to continue a recent slow stretch it felt like his early season elite offense stretch was maybe an aberration. But then he exploded for 26 points in the second half in Starkville in a major step in the right direction. The question was whether he could build off of it.
That’s exactly what he did on Saturday when he scored 16 first half points on his way to 36 points for the entirety of the game.
Knecht hit his first two triples of the game and that got him in an early rhythm. The senior wing ended the game with five made triples on just eight attempts. He also got out in transition and had success scoring there including an early and-one.
Knecht was the only person propelling the Vols offense in the second half which proved crucial through a bad stretch of play.
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Careless Turnovers And Fouls Cost Tennessee
Tennessee won the opening tip but Santiago Vescovi was falling from the front court to the back court when he caught the ball. He fired a pass to Josiah-Jordan James, who wasn’t looking, and the ball flew out of bounds for a turnover three seconds in the game.
That set the tone for Tennessee on a day when they didn’t take care of the basketball well at all. The Vols entered the week averaging just 10.6 turnovers per game. For the second straight game, Tennessee recorded 10 first half turnovers.
The Vols totaled four second half turnovers for 14 on the game. A number of players had issues coughing the ball up but Zakai Zeigler was the biggest issue with a career-high six turnovers.
Georgia lived at the foul line in the game, scoring 12 of its 37 first half points at the foul line and making 19-of-23 free throws over the course of the game. Some of those fouls were just good plays by Georgia, other was Tennessee getting a whistle (life on the road in the SEC) but others were silly fouls.
Santiago Vescovi nearly had a steal but then had a dumb reach on a Bulldog player on the ground. There was seven seconds on the shot clock, Georgia was in the bonus and it was Vescovi’s second foul.
There was also Tobe Awaka going over the back on an offensive rebound he had little chance of getting with the Bulldogs in the double bonus.
Neither issue was quite as prevalent in the second half but Tennessee didn’t eliminate either. After allowing Georgia to get back in the game with careless play, the Bulldogs nearly made them pay.
Georgia Picks Apart Tennessee’s Defense From The Perimeter
Georgia doesn’t boast any really strong scorers but they have a number of guys who can shoot the ball well from the perimeter.
That’s exactly how the Bulldogs’ dissected Tennessee’s defense. Georgia hit 14-of-33 three-point attempts for the game including an incredible nine-of-19 attempts in the second half.
And when Georgia started hitting shots, Tennessee started closing out too aggressively which got them in defensive rotations early in possessions. The Bulldogs played beautiful offense then, moving the ball well and getting open looks.
Strong Georgia offense was a big part of it but Tennessee did have some bad mistakes. They lost shooters to often including on the first two possessions of the second half when the Bulldogs hit triples.
Those were the mistakes that were inexcusable against a team that struggles to score at the basket and made just eight-of-29 shots at the rim.
Tennessee Wins With Ferocious Late Game Comeback
The Vols trailed 75-64 with just over six minutes to play and seemed all but dead. But then they came absolutely storming back, ending the game on a 15-1 run thanks to improved defense and elite offense.
Knecht was the man that made it happen, scoring nine of Tennessee’s final 15 points including a ridiculous contested triple to give the Vols their first lead in a long time with just over a minute left.
Credit to Jonas Aidoo too who was fantastic defending the rim to end the game and grabbed some crucial rebounds.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee returns to Knoxville on Tuesday after a two-game road trip to face Florida at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. ET and ESPN is broadcasting the game.
