The Official #4 Tennessee vs #11 Auburn Game Thread, Wednesday 7pm/ESPN2

[BernardKingGOAT]

ZZ flipped a switch about the same time DK did and never looked back. Huge after the awful start.

His turnovers were inexcusable, but then he would come down and hit a timely 3. It wasn't a wash offset, but it was still clutch in the timeliness of them

 

[TheBigOne10]

Come on A&M

 

[BallerVolFan]

Great win! Enjoy it for the night and then erase. Starting tomorrow morning, it’s Alabama’s turn.

 

[Chris4Vols22]

Just finished my DVR of the game. Wow, that was some really good basketball. Auburn came prepared, but we proved we are the better team tonight. I thought it was a very impressive all around effort, but obviously you have to give major props to Knecht. The man is a monster, and the basketball we played tonight is the kind I want to see in the tournament. Sometimes you have to just clear out for your stud, and I personally feel that tonight was the first night we truly exploited that. Very good coaching tonight, and the team was fought hard for 40 minutes.

This was my favorite of the season so far.

 

[walkenvol]

He's a good free throw shooter, he just had a tough stretch tonight. It happens.

Jimmy D said he had dropped below 70% with those misses. A good free throw shooting point guard is 85%+ IMO

 

[VolunteerCeltic]

How loud was it?

2nd half got pretty damn loud , especially when Pearl got T'ed up and each time Knecht touched the ball, you could feel the crowd electricity knowing he was going to drop another bomb

 

[TheBigOne10]

No way in hell Kentucky comes into our house and beats this bunch. We are tougher and seasoned like cast iron.

 

[vol94]

I’ve said all year we would at least make the Elite 8 so I’m definitely sticking with that no matter the matchup as we will be better than anyone we see before the E8. From there on in it gets tricky and could go either way. I know I’m in the minority but I want Purdue.

Purdue concerns me b/c of Edey and post play. Purdue will be at the foul line by the 10 minute mark.

But I’ll take my chances!

 

[Col_Cathcart]

The official got knocked to the floor and his vision was shielded by the barn player who clobbered him

That was after the ball passed ZZ without coming close to him though. Plus it was far enough from touching anyone that one of the other refs should have been able to help make the call.

 

[BallerVolFan]

No way in hell Kentucky comes into our house and beats this bunch. We are tougher and seasoned like cast iron.

That one is going to be very fun!

 

[hUTch2002]

Purdue concerns me b/c of Edey and post play. Purdue will be at the foul line by the 10 minute mark.

But I’ll take my chances!

I’m bullish that we’re better though. Yes Edey will get tons of fouls but it won’t be enough.

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

Great win Vols! Keep rolling. Going to have to win out I believe.

 

[the_great_pumpkin]

am I wrong?

no, no, no, and no.

 

[Dadof2volfans]

What a dumb way to vote….

.


That’s the dumbest thing I have heard from him. Wow I thought he was smart.

 

[sami]

He’s got to get better at the free throw line. He is a great player!

One thing for sure, ZZ is a stone cold killer with the money on the table.

 

[minorvol]

What an incredible nerve wracking game. We all see that DK is a generational player. One of the best I have ever seen in a UT jersey. Nothing else to say except wish he was wearing that jersey more than one year.

CRB coached a fantastic game. That’s obviously easier to do with an eraser like DK but he managed playing time and rotation really well.

Always great to beat Auburn. Go Vols!

 

[VolsAgainstTheWorld15]

One thing about Knecht’s performance that will probably be forgotten was this: he played the final four or so minutes of the first half without picking up a third foul. That may not technically get recorded in the stat sheet, but that was a huge reason why he was able to play so aggressively in the second half.

 

[Franklin_Vol09]

JJJ having 4 blocks tonight won’t get talked about but his rim protection was really damn good.

He played a very good defensive game.

 

[dovervolz]

Just being real, this is the best Tennessee basketball team I have ever seen

I'm 26

Best I've seen and I'm 66

 

[Lukusw]

39 pts against the 5th (now 6th) best defense in the country. Wow.

 

[vol94]

largest TBA crowd since the renovation... those who were there please let us know. It sounded insane on tv.

My son texted me just now and said it was the loudest basketball environment he’s attended. He’s a jr at UT and attends most games. He said the atmosphere was insane and the students were rock’n all night.

 

[StarRaider]

One thing about Knecht’s performance that will probably be forgotten was this: he played the final four or so minutes of the first half without picking up a third foul. That may not technically get recorded in the stat sheet, but that was a huge reason why he was able to play so aggressively in the second half.

IIRC DK got his 2nd with about 10 min left in the 1st.

 

[PKT_VOL]

From a stats standpoint, you can see that his big games are most from the second half, that he's a highly efficient scorer vs a volume scorer, and that he's a 3-level scorer.

The thing about Knecht that is hard to capture in stats, is that he plays unselfishly within the offense for 60% of the game. Then, at a TV timeout, his teammates, after not finding success on offense as a team, tell him to put his superman cape while they go into supporting him roles (picking, rebounding, spotting up, and cutting to the basket if double teamed). Just amazing to see that dynamic happen in real time and the opposing team being hopeless to stop it.

 

[sami]

All this talk about Knecht for SEC player of the year, he should be among the contenders for national player of the year and All-American as well.
Kid is an absolute stud, and on top of that he is at his very best with the game on the line. I've watched college hoops for the better part of 50 years, and I'm not sure I've seen a more consistently clutch player than #3. We're very fortunate to one day be able to say we saw this kid at UT.

 

[Cartervol]

You can tell Pearl always takes this game personally.. Always good to beat him. His teams always come to play. That was a entertaining game.