Tennessee basketball knocked off South Carolina 66-59 on Wednesday night to earn its first outright SEC Regular Season Championship since 2008.
The Vols improved to 14-3 in conference play this season with the win and moved two games ahead of Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky and South Carolina who are in a log jam for second place.
Star transfer Dalton Knecht led all scorers with 26 points including five made three-pointers as Tennessee kept South Carolina at an arms length throughout the second half. Junior power forward Jonas Aidoo added 14 points and nine rebounds including a crucial bucket late that helped Tennessee keep South Carolina at arm’s length.
Following the game, both Knecht and Aidoo met with the media to discuss winning the SEC, how they got it one at South Carolina and much more. Here’s everything they said.
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Dalton Knecht
On how it feels to be a SEC Champion
“It feels great. I mean, coming here new team and stuff, we were all doing hard work and we got the job done, but at the same time the job is not finished. We still have the SEC Tournament and the big one.”
On how much winning the regular season SEC Championship meant to the team
“Oh, it means a lot. I mean, we just beat our league and now we got to go out, do it again at the SEC tourney so we know we still got another job to get done.”
On what it meant celebrating with his teammates
“Oh, we mean we’ve been working so hard for this since before Italy (trip). We all got together, that was one of our goals. Win the SEC and then there was SEC Tourney. So we got a job done, but it’s not at the same time. We still got to go out, win the SEC Tourney. Then the big one.”
On what Rick Barnes told them in the locker room
“Just congrats. I mean it’s going be fun, it’s going to be fun. Enjoy it, but at the same time we still got another championship we got to win.”
On what winning a game like this does for the team
“It’s big. I mean they’re a great team. They came out ready to play on their home court, Senior Night. They were ready, the crowd was ready. So we know we had to go out and be ready for it and we knew they were going come out and we’re gonna get punched in the mouth, but we just know, we just had to go out and keep executing.”
On winning at Alabama and South Carolina to earn the title
“We know two big road games in the same couple of days. So it’s great just to go out there, compete with the guys and just go out and finish out on top. So like I said, we still got to go out and be ready for SEC tournament as well as our last game, Kentucky.”
On being ready for every South Carolina push
“Yeah, we were. We knew that they were gonna hit big shots and they’re a great team so we knew we had to go out and execute and be ready and just stay composed.”
On how much fun his four-point play was
“Oh, it’s fun. I think that was my first four point play in a long time. You know, connect four.”
On why this team was able to win the SEC Championship
“I mean we just knew every single day we were consistent in being ready to go out and compete, you know, (it) starts in the film room with coach and going out and practice every single day. Ever since we all got here, all on campus, all transfers, all freshmen as well as Jo and Santi coming back.”
On where Tennessee has improved since the first South Carolina game
“Just like I said, being consistent every single day. We knew we get teams’ best every single time we go out and play, so we just knew we had to be ready for it.”
On if Tennessee should be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament:
“No doubt… We know we’re at our best every single time. We’re just going out, we don’t care about the one-seed. We’re just going out, ready to compete against everybody.”
On where winning the SEC regular-season championship ranks amongst his accolades this season
“For sure at one of the top. I mean this is really special to me as well as my teammates. This is real awesome to go out, win a championship. We get a ring, we get something in a banner and we’ll always get to go out and remember when we’re getting older and we have kids and stuff like that, family. So we get to go back and get to enjoy that moment.”
On how happy he is for Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi
“Oh yeah. I mean, obviously they’ve been there and done that and they get to finish their last season as an SEC Champion. That’s special and only the greats can do that. That’s both of ’em. VFLs for Life. They’re the best and we always knew that. So big props to them for always helping us and just showing us how to get the job done.”
On how Vescovi and James embraced him
“They told me since day one to just play like me and just, they’re gonna embrace me. Super easy. If I had a wide open jump shot or contested jump shot, I shot it no matter what. They’ve just always been super helpful and stuff on and off the court. They’ve been super helpful and I can’t thank them guys enough for taking me in and embracing me, not just those two. The whole entire team. The transfers, the freshmen, everybody. They’ve just been super helpful for me and making the job super easy for me to go out and just be myself.”
On what he screamed after his lob dunk
“I can’t repeat.”
Jonas Aidoo
On how much winning an SEC championship means to him
“We’ve been talking about championship games for a while now. Just taking each game going one by one. We know we got the toughest schedule ahead right now and we still got one more to go. So this game was really big too.”
On if the title is sweeter having beaten Auburn, Alabama and South Carolina over the last three games
“It definitely is because last time at home (against South Carolina) we laid and egg, so we definitely know we had to get this one.”
On hitting a free throw in the final minute to get it back to a two-possession game
“It felt great. I mean shoot, I’ve been messing free throws a lot this season, so I’ve been trying to work on it. I don’t know what’s going on, but I definitely need get back in the gym.”
On Tennessee players having a chance to celebrate a championship after the game
“I mean it’s everything. We’ve been working since the Italy trip (in August) so you know, just carrying that team chemistry on all the way to right now is just great.”
On the importance of this not being the only championship this team wins
“I mean it’s great. We haven’t won a regular season championship since 2018 if I’m not mistaken. So you know, what is it, 2024 right now? So that’s few years back. And then we still got the tournament and the big tournament too, so it is just really exciting.”
On the importance of building momentum late in the season like this
“We have a lot of momentum going in. We know all these games were big. We we’re excited that it was a tough schedule coming up ahead of us. Each game is a challenge. We’re just taking each game one by one, so we’re just getting ready for the big tournament.”
On why this Tennessee team was able to win an SEC championship
“We were just calm and composed. We do what we do in practice. Just go out there, play hard, play for the whole 40 minutes. I mean if you got to go to overtime, go overtime. It’s just doing what we doing in practice.”
On the connection this Tennessee team has
“It’s been great. Once again, I’m going back to the Italy trip. I feel like that’s where everything got together. Everybody was just having fun with each other. Everybody was cool with each other. We’re in a whole different country, so all we have is each other. We just learned so much from each other on that trip.”
On what Rick Barnes told the team in the locker room
“I mean, we got one, it feels good but we have a big game on Saturday (against Kentucky) so we just have to close out the season with that one.”
On having to win tough games down the stretch to win the title, how much better than makes it feel
“It definitely does. We just wanted to close out the conference. Each game is really big for us at this time of the (year) too, because it is the end of the season. So we don’t want to lose no games. We don’t give nothing away.”
On if this Tennessee team should be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament
“I mean, whatever they put us, we’re just trying to play to win.”
On how much he wanted to personally bounce back against South Carolina after the loss in Knoxville
“Oh, a lot. I played like trash in the first game, so it was definitely big coming into their home court this time. Just making a statement for them.”
On Tennessee’s interior defense being better in the rematch against South Carolina
“He is really emphasizing being vertical. We already work on verticality, there’s a lot in practice. So just emphasizing those drills into the game.”
On this Tennessee team relying on its depth and having multiple contributors
“It’s great. Each player brings something different to the table. So if we need them in a critical time, we’re going to put them in a critical time on and off the court. So it is just great that we all have that connection.”
On if he’s ever played with anyone who hits as many big shots as Dalton Knecht
“No. It’s amazing to see, for sure.”
