Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht led the way for his team in its 92-84 win over Auburn on Wednesday night, putting the Vols in control of the SEC and keeping them in play for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Northern Colorado transfer tied a career-high with 39 points in the win for Associated Press No. 4 Tennessee (22-6, 12-3 in SEC).
His emphatic dunk with 5:51 left gave the Volunteers a 79-75 lead as they began to separate themselves.
Over the final 12 minutes, Knecht outscored No. 11 Auburn (21-7, 10-5) by four, 25-21, and finished 12-of-21 from the field, including 5-of-8 from deep and 10-of-12 from the foul line.
His shot chart from Wednesday night shows how dangerous he was at all three levels: from beyond the arc, midrange and attacking the paint.
In 15 SEC games, Knecht is averaging 25.3 points, making him the likely conference player of the year.
The Vols entered Wednesday No. 5 in NET rankings and a projected 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology, updated on Feb. 27.
The win against Auburn marks the first of four consecutive Quad 1 games for Tennesee, which improved to 6-5 against teams in that quadrant this season. That gives Tennessee a golden opportunity to move up to a 1-seed by Selection Sunday on March 17.
The Volunteers next play at No. 14 Alabama (19-8, 11-3 in SEC) on Saturday, followed by another road game — at No. 18 South Carolina (22-5, 10-4 in SEC) — and the regular season finale at home against No. 16 Kentucky (20-8, 10-5 in SEC).
