Tennessee basketball avenged last season’s buzzer beating loss at Vanderbilt by knocking off the Commodores 75-62 at Memorial Gymasium in Nashville on Saturday night.
The first half looked a lot like last year’s matchup as Vanderbilt built a nine-point advantage with less than 90 seconds left in the first half. But Tennessee finished the first half strong and took control of the game early in the second half.
After a back-and-forth few minutes, Dalton Knecht dropped in a triple which gave Tennessee a 51-48 lead with just under 12 minutes to go. They never relinquished it.
The shot kickstarted a 10-0 run and Vanderbilt never got the game closer than seven points the rest of the way. Knecht was spectacular again, scoring 32 points to mark his fifth straight game with 25-plus points. And while Knecht led the way offensively, he wasn’t the only Tennessee player that stepped up.
“The guy that I thought blew the game up was Jordan Gainey’s three, when they went 1-3-1, in the corner,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said postgame. “I thought that was a huge play, huge play. Jahmai Mashack came in and got two rebounds. I thought that’s when the game kind of tilted our way. But the fact is, Dalton’s teammates, they have confidence and we all do.”
RTI’s Ryan Schumpert and Ric Butler were on site for the game and the two discussed Knecht’s big night, turning points in the game and much more in the RTI Instant Reaction. Check it out here.
