Dalton Knecht didn’t score 40 points. That was the only thing he didn’t do for Tennessee Wednesday night.

After a halftime lead turned into a six-point second half deficit, the Vols’ superstar guard, in a familiar twist, took over, taking over a scoring stretch on his own and putting No. 4 Tennessee back in front for good en route to critical 92-84 victory over No. 11 Auburn in front of a record crowd at Food City Center.

The Vols now hold first place in the SEC standings.

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Knecht tied a career-high in scoring with 39 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the field and five 3-pointers. He scored 27 points over the last 20 minutes.

Zakai Zeigler finished with 17 points while Jonas Aidoo totaled 14 along with seven rebounds as Tennessee (22-6, 12-3 SEC) shot 50.9% from the field and 52.9% from three-point range.

The Vols out-rebounded Auburn, 37-30.

Johni Broom led the Tigers (21-7, 10-5) with 23 points and Chad Mazara-Baker had 13. Denver Jones scored 11.

Aidoo went at Broome early and rattled off a 6-0 on his own to give Tennessee an early 8-4 lead.

The first half settled into a slugfest, though with the Vols staying in front much of the way behind strong starts from Aidoo and Tobe Awaka on the inside.

Knecht hit Tennessee’s first 3-pointer to open up its biggest lead at 19-13 with just over 11 minutes left in the half, but Auburn answered with its first three from Broome from the top of the key to pull within three two possessions later.

After Johnson scored on an and-1 one to cut the Vols’ lead to one, Knecht fired off and laced a contested 3-pointer with Holloway in his face. His drive and finish on the next possession pulled Tennessee ahead, 24-21.

Both teams suffered through a scoring drought over mid-way through the half. Williams ended Auburn’s with a deep three to get within two but an Aidoo jumper put the Vols back up four at 28-24 with five minutes, 10 seconds remaining before the break.

Jones’ 3-pointer from the corner dwindled Tennessee’s lead to one at 34-33 with the clock ticking inside three minutes and it was Jones that gave Auburn its first lead in 10 minutes with a couple of free throws to go up 35-34.

The last minute of the half went back-and-forth from there. Scores from Mashack and Gainey helped the Vols to a four-point lead but Johnson pulled Auburn within one before Zeigler sent Tennessee into the half up 44-40 with a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

Zeigler opened the second half with a three and Knecht free throws stretched the Vols’ advantage to 49-40 less than two minutes in.

Broome helped bring Auburn back within four with three-straight scoring possessions as part of a 9-2 run and Williams’ drive and layup with 15 minutes, 47 seconds made it a one-possession game again at 51-49.

A Berman three allowed Auburn to reclaim the lead at 56-54 with under 14 minutes left and Williams’ and-1 put the Tigers up five following the ensuing free throw.

Auburn used a series of trips to the free throw line to up its lead to eight, its largest of the game to that point but Knecht provided a much-needed basket with a 3-pointer to end a drought and trim the Tigers’ lead to 63-58 with 12 minutes remaining.

The shot kickstarted a Knecht scoring stretch, which included a dunk and free throws to pull Tennessee within two at 65-63. His 3-pointer with nine minutes, 45 seconds left evened the score at 66-66.

Auburn burned a timeout but it did little to quell Knecht, who connected on a jumper to put Tennessee back in front at 71-69.

Tennessee hit six-straight field goals, five of which Knecht was responsible for that put the Vols ahead 79-75.

The Tigers didn’t go away, but they couldn’t stop Knecht on the other end. His drive and score followed by a Aidoo lay in opened up an 84-77 lead for Tennessee as Auburn was suffering through two-plus minute scoring drought with less than three minutes to go.

Holloway’s three ended that drought and made it a four-point game with two minutes, 45 seconds left but Tennessee pulled away over the last minute and a half.

Tennessee continues its tough stretch with the first of back-to-back road games at Alabama on Saturday.

The No. 14 Crimson Tide are 19-8 overall and 11-3 in league play. They play at Ole Miss on Wednesday as they look to get even with the Vols in the conference title race.

The Vols beat Alabama, 91-71 in Knoxville last month.

Tip-off at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa is set for 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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