Vols drop in polls after splitting road games last week
A number of top 10 teams were toppled in a week filled with upsets as conference play heats up across college basketball.
Tennessee wasn't immune.
The Vols' comeback bid came up short in a 77-72 loss at Mississippi State in their SEC road opener on Wednesday before turning around and beating Georgia, 85-79 in Athens on Saturday.
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Tennessee dropped one spot to No. 6 in the Associated Press Top 25 and two spots to No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches Poll on Monday.
The Vols are the highest ranked SEC team, followed by Kentucky (8), Auburn (13) and Ole Miss (22).
Tennessee, which sits at 12-4 overall and 2-1 in the league, received back-to-back stellar performances from guard Dalton Knecht.
After trailing by as much as 15 against Mississippi State, Knecht scored 26 of his 28 total points in the second half, allowing the Vols to tie the game late before Mississippi State pulled away in the final minute.
At Georgia, Knecht carried Tennessee offensively with a game-high 36 points as the Vols erased an 11-point deficit in the second half, outscoring Georgia, 21-4 over the last six minutes, 24 seconds of the game.
MORE FROM VOLREPORT: In adjustment to defenses, Dalton Knecht gives assist to Jahmai Mashack
"I’ve always believed that guys that have success like this, it goes back to their training, their work ethic, their passion and love for the game," Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. "And again, Dalton’s one of those guys. You see him come back to the Food City Center (or) Pratt (Pavilion) every night. He’s going to be in there after practice. He’s one of those guys that puts his time in and when he gets going, I mean, he’s a confident player."
After a two-game road stretch, Tennessee returns to Knoxville to face Florida and Alabama this week.
The Vols face the Gators, who are coming off of a 90-68 thumping of Arkansas, on Tuesday at Food City Center at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Florida (11-5, 1-2) is averaging 86.4 points per game and is led by guard Walter Clayton Jr. in scoring with 15.9 points. The Gators have five players that average more than 10 points per game.
Facing Florida, which attacks the rim, will be a contrast compared to the style of play of Georgia, which emphasized perimeter shooting.
MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Three things Dalton Knecht did vs. Georgia that was SEC POY caliber
"(Florida) wants to get downhill, they want to get to the basket, they want to get to the free throw line," Associate head coach Justin Gainey said. "And so we just got to be ready to make that adjustment and all through preseason and non-conference games, we faced different types of opponents that, you attacked in different ways. So I think we’ll be prepared we’ll have our guys’ mindset ready on that. But I don’t want to take away from their ability to shoot the three, you know, they’re just a kind of a lower volume three-point shooting team, but they have guys that can knock them down all over the court and even (Tyrese) Samuel’s shown he can make them too.
"So it won’t be a situation where it’s like completely packed in and not respecting their three-point shot at all, because those guys can, (Will) Richard, I mean, those guys can shoot.”
Tennessee is currently a 10-point favorite according to KenPom, who is projecting the Vols to win 85-75.
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