Kentucky Wins at Tennessee Despite Knecht’s 40-Point Performance
While the Tennessee Volunteers have already clinched the SEC regular season title, the last game of the season will always have meaning as it was Tennessee’s senior day today. In a tightly contested battle throughout, the Kentucky Wildcats were able to pick up another big resume win, defeating the Volunteers by a score of 85-81. The Wildcats jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first half, but the Volunteers were able to cut that deficit to just four by halftime. Kentucky again regained control midway through the second half, going up as many as 14 with 9 minutes remaining. Tennessee clawed back, but they were not able to capitalize at critical moments. Down three with 30 seconds left after two made free throws, the Volunteers were able to force a turnover, but Josiah-Jordan James missed a three-pointer to tie the game.
Tennessee’s star guard Dalton Knecht had a career-high 40 points in this matchup, cementing his status as SEC player of the year. The Wildcats could not contain Knecht throughout the game, as he was consistent in his scoring output with 18 in the first quarter and 22 points in the second. Guard Zakai Zeigler had another strong game at point guard for the Vols, putting up 17 points and dropping nine assists. For Kentucky, the duo of Antonio Reeves and Reed Sheppard absolutely torched Tennessee. They each scored 27 points, on a combined 17-30 from the field and 10-15 from the three-point line, which is outstanding efficiency from the two. Reeves had 11 points at the half, while Sheppard only had 5, but they both went full microwave mode in the second half with a combined 38 points to secure the victory.
This was the final regular season game of the season for both teams, as they will now look forward to the SEC tournament that will begin on Wednesday, but both teams will not play until the quarterfinals on Friday. Tennessee will have the number one seed in the bracket, while Kentucky will have the third seed, so each will get a double bye in the bracket. Tennessee seeks to take the regular season and tournament championship to make a strong case for the fourth number-one seed in the NCAA tournament field. Kentucky is currently projected to be a four seed, but they could potentially move up or down a seed line depending on how the SEC tournament shakes up.
