Dalton Knecht can score a lot in Knoxville, too.
The Tennessee superstar guard, who has put together a string of player of the year caliber performances on the road, returned to Food City Center for the first time in more than a week and picked up where he left off at Georgia, leading the No. 6 Vols to a 85-66 rout of Florida on Tuesday.
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After averaging 32.0 points in two road game last week, Knecht paced Tennessee (13-4, 3-1 SEC) with 39 points, including 22 in the first half. Forward Jonas Aidoo also built off of a strong showing last week with 19 points, including 10 rebounds and two blocks.
Tennessee shot more than 51% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range while out-reboudning Florida, 44-37.
Walter Clayton Jr. led the Gators (11-6, 1-3) with 16 points. Riley Kugel finished with 12.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Florida's offense, which emphasizes driving to the basket, struggled to get anything going on the Tennessee defense early.
The Vols took advantage, scoring off of a number of Aidoo offensive rebounds and a James 3-pointer to go up 9-4 less than four minutes into the first half.
The Gators stayed within striking distance but multiple possessions that ended in scores from Mashack kept Tennessee in front.
The Vols used a 8-0 run midway through the half to swell their lead to 22-11 as Florida went more than four minutes without a field goal on one end and provided little resistance against Aidoo on the other.
Knecht took over the final six minutes of the half, scoring as many points as Florida in that span and helping Tennessee to a 44-32 lead at the intermission.
Aidoo started the second half in the same way he started the first. He scored on each of the Vols' first two possessions of the period and scored six points before the five minute mark to extend their lead to 53-37.
Florida managed to cut its deficit to 10 after a 9-2 run, but Aidoo quelled the scoring stretch with a score to put Tennessee up 63-51 with just over 12 minutes left in the game.
Knecht, who didn't score his first points of the half until with 12 and a half minutes left, put the Vols out of reach again, hitting a 3-pointer amid a 12-0 run that allowed Tennessee to go up 73-51 with less than eight minutes to go.
What little momentum the Gators built during that run, they were never able to recapture as Tennessee continued its onslaught down the stretch.
STAT OF THE DAY
Knecht continues to jump off the final box score.
He scored 28 points, with 26 coming in the second half at Mississippi State and then followed it up with a 36-point showing at Georgia, putting Tennessee on his back offensively, leading to a comeback win a few days later.
There were no late-game heroics needed against Florida because Knecht virtually put the game out of reach in the first half, scoring 22 points in the period.
He added to the program record books, too.
Days after joining Bernard King, Allan Houston and Grant Williams as just the fourth player in program history to have multiple 35-plus point road games in a single season, Knecht broke the record for the most points by a Tennessee player in a three-game stretch with 103.
Chris Lofton previously held the record with 89 points in three-straight games during the 2005-06 season.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY
UP NEXT
Tennessee continues it two-game home stand against Alabama on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide (11-5, 3-0) have won five-straight games and is unbeaten in league play, including a 82-74 win at Mississippi State in their last outing. They host Missouri on Wednesday.
The Vols beat Alabama, 68-59 in the last meeting between the two teams on Feb. 15, 2023.
Tip-off at Food City Center is set for 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
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