Dalton Knecht scored 13 of his game-high 21 points in the first seven minutes of the second half to spark No. 17 Tennessee to an 86-79 nonconference victory over No. 20 Illinois Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.
All five starters scored in double figures for Tennessee (6-3), which limited Illinois to 35.4 percent shooting from the field and improved to 1-3 against ranked opponents. Jonas Aidoo posted 14 points and seven rebounds, Santiago Vesconi contributed 12 points and nine rebounds, Josiah-Jordan James added 12 points and seven assists and Zakai Zeigler had 11 points.
Quincy Guerrier paced Illinois (7-2) with a season-high 22 points. All-American candidate Terrence Shannon Jr. scored nine points in the final two minutes to reach 22 points as well, but he hit just 5 of 16 field-goal attempts. Marcus Domask, who scored a career-high 33 Tuesday against Florida Atlantic, managed just six points on 2-of-11 shooting.
Illinois entered the day with the nation’s 11th most-efficient defense according to KenPom.com, but the Volunteers scored on 10 of their first 11 possessions to seize a 21-15 lead at the 13:57 mark of the first half. During that early spree, every starter scored and the Vols earned assists on eight of their nine baskets.
The Volunteers couldn’t maintain that pace as they scored just six points over the final 10 minutes, which included a 4:47 scoreless stretch. Near the end of that dry spell, Illinois took its first lead, 31-30, on Guerrier’s 3-pointer with 4:33 left in the half.
While Tennessee frequently attacked the paint, Illinois relied almost exclusively on 3-pointers during the first half — taking 20 of their 32 shots from beyond the arc. Luke Goode’s 3-pointer from the wing with 20 seconds left gave Illinois a 36-34 lead at the break.
Illinois increased its lead to 39-35 early in the second half, but then Tennessee started running its offense through Knecht. He stacked up 13 points in less than five minutes by scoring in multiple ways – backing down his defender in the post, driving for a finger roll, hitting a 3-pointer, sinking free throws – to stake Tennessee to a 50-44 lead with 13:43 to play.
The Vols gradually pushed their lead to as much as 69-57 with 7:04 to go as Jahmai Mashack came off the bench to contribute nine points while slowing down Shannon defensively.
–Field Level Media