No. 4 Tennessee defeated No. 11 Auburn on Wednesday night in Knoxville by a score of 92-84 behind a dominant performance from Dalton Knecht.
The Vols held a slight lead over the Tigers heading into halftime and gave up the lead to Auburn just about seven minutes into the second half. Just as Auburn was starting to find their footing with an eight-point lead, Knecht put the Vols on his back and went to work.
Knecht ended the game with 39 points, tying a career-high from his output against Florida earlier in the season, scoring 27 points in the second half of action. The SEC Player of the Year candidate hit 12-of-21 attempts from the floor, went 5-of-8 from the three-point line, and added 10 free throws in 12 attempts to his total.
Zakai Zeigler had 17 points on the night and eliminated some of his early game mistakes in the second half while Jonas Aidoo scored 14 points in Tennessee’s win on Wednesday.
Following the contest, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl met with the media in Knoxville to talk about his reaction to the game. Pearl spoke about the turning point in the game, Auburn’s output in the final three minutes, and what impresses him about Dalton Knecht. Additionally, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes also spoke to the media, talking about Knecht’s performance, Zeigler’s showing on Wednesday, what this does for the team, and much more.
Tennessee also sent out Knecht and Zeigler to field questions from the media following both coaches.
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Check out all three interviews from Wednesday night in Knoxville below:
Tennessee HC Rick Barnes
Auburn HC Bruce Pearl
Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht and Zakai Zeigler
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