After two mentally and physically draining road games last week, Tennessee basketball dominated Florida 85-66 on Tuesday evening in Knoxville.
Dalton Knecht continued his recent hot stretch with another massive game while Jonas Aidoo got it done on both ends of the court.
Here’s three quick takeaways on the win.
Welcome To The Dalton Knecht Show
All of Dalton Knecht’s big performances so far this season had been on the road. Sure, Knecht was good against Illinois but it was nothing like the dynamite performances he’s had in four true road games.
But Knecht treated the smaller than normal crowd that fought the heavy snows to make it into Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center to an absolute show.
Knecht’s first basket showed off his versatility, throwing down a left-handed put back dunk. He didn’t take another shot until the 7:05 minute mark in the first half. That’s when the show began. He scored 20 points in the final 7:05 of the first half, accounting for all but two of Tennessee’s points down the home stretch of the first half as they built a 44-32 halftime lead.
Not only did Knecht go for 22 first half points, the fourth time he’s scored 20 points in a half this season, he was unbelievably efficient doing it— making nine-of-10 attempts.
The super senior wing scored at the basket, scored in the midrange and hit from deep. He did it with his left and right hand at the basket, hit catch-and-shoot shots and hit jumpers off the dribble.
Knecht got off to a similarly slow start on the second half but it made little distance in the end as he totaled 39 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field.
More From RTI: Dalton Knecht Claims SEC Weekly Honors
Jonas Aidoo Not Too Bad Himself
Knecht put on the show that was impossible to look away from but that doesn’t take anything away from Jonas Aidoo who turned in another strong performance.
It was Aidoo who got Tennessee going offensively, scoring the Vols’ first four points and totaled eight points before Knecht’s late first half burst. Aidoo picked up his second foul around the same time and spent the rest of the first half on the bench.
Then Aidoo scored the Vols’ first six points of the second half and went on to total 19 points on nine-of-16 shooting from the field.
The junior big man wasn’t just effective scoring the basketball though. Aidoo was effective on the glass against the SEC’s best offensive rebounding team, ending the game with nine boards. Florida also attacks the basket at an extremely high rank and Aidoo did a good job attacking the basket, ending with two blocks.
Aidoo has been great is three of Tennessee’s first four SEC games. The Vols would like even more consistency but it is a strong start to conference play for the junior big man.
A Strong Defensive Showing
In Tennessee’s 1-1 week on the road, something very peculiar happened. The Vols’ defense struggled in both games. Struggled may be too harsh of a word but it wasn’t at the same level that it usually is.
That was something I highlighted ahead of a week where Tennessee would face elite offensive teams Florida and Alabama.
The Vols responded against Florida, holding the Gators to 66 points on 30% shooting from the field and just .971 points per possession.
Florida did three things offensively that gave Tennessee some issues. They attacked the glass— something they’re elite at— they turned some sloppy Tennessee turnovers into 22 transition points and they got to the foul line and made 21-of-25 attempts.
But when Tennessee got the Gators’ offense into the half court they had very few answers to the Vols’ stout defense. After two games below their standard on the road, Tennessee’s defense bounced back against Florida.
Final Stats
*A stat change took away a rebound from Jonas Aidoo so the junior finished with just nine rebounds.
Up Next
Tennessee returns to the court on Saturday afternoon to face rival Alabama at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Tipoff is at 2 p.m. ET and ESPN2 is broadcasting the game.
