Sports head basketball 66 games4/2/2024 Graduate student guard Ta'Lon Cooper had 11 points and eight boards.īoth teams shot under 39 percent from the floor, but Tennessee went 7-of-20 (35.0 percent) from deep and conceded just an 8-of-29 (27.6 percent) mark at the other end. Freshman forward Collin Murray-Boyles logged 11 points and a game-best 11 rebounds, along with a game-high three blocks. Junior guard Meechie Johnson paced South Carolina with 18 points, but Tennessee held him without a made 3-pointer on seven attempts. I love the fact we've accomplished what we set out to do in the regular season, but I'm just proud for everybody associated with our University and our basketball program." That's what I'm thankful for, I really am. There are so many people that have played a huge part of this. "So blessed to have an opportunity to work at Tennessee with Randy Boyd, Donde Plowman, certainly Danny White has done, Ryan Alpert, our administrator, Mary-Carter, Garrett, Chad. "There are so many people in our program ," Barnes said. Zeigler scored 13 points and paced all players with seven assists in the championship-clinching win. Junior forward Jonas Aidoo finished just shy of a double-double, tallying 14 points and a team-best nine rebounds. Knecht, who scored 25-plus for the ninth time in the last 16 games and the 10th time this season, finished 5-of-11 on 3-pointers and 3-of-3 at the line. The teams exchanged the final four points, with the last two coming at the line from Charleston, S.C., native Josiah-Jordan James, a fifth-year guard playing the final road game of his career. However, Tennessee tallied five of the next six points, regaining a seven-point edge, 64-57, with 14.9 seconds to go on a pair of free throws by Zeigler. The home team went on a 9-2 spurt in just 81 seconds to get it down to three, 59-56, with 1:14 on the clock. The lead did not shrink below eight until the final three minutes. It scored eight straight points-half on a four-point play by Knecht, his and the team's second of the year-to go up by a game-best 14 points, 48-34, with 9:40 to play. South Carolina countered with a 10-3 burst in 4:47, trimming its deficit to six, 40-34, with 12:50 remaining. Knecht scored the opening points of the second half-that made it an extended 18-5 run after the two sides split the first 38 points-to give the Volunteers a 13-point edge, 37-24, with 17:57 to go. Tennessee shot 5-of-11 (45.5 percent) from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes, including Knecht hitting his first four attempts, while the Gamecocks went 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) beyond the arc. South Carolina (24-6, 12-5 SEC) scored with 13 seconds on the timer to get it back to single digits, but junior guard Zakai Zeigler hit a baseline jumper at the buzzer to make it an 11-point affair, 35-24, at the intermission. The two sides played nearly even basketball through 16-plus minutes, but Knecht then buried three straight 3-pointers in just 2:20, stretching the margin from two to a then-game-best 11, 33-22, with 1:09 left in the frame. For them to come and do it the way we had to do it on the road with this finishing schedule, I think it speaks volumes about them." For them to do it and it was something they set their sights on. It's not easy to win a championship, it's not. "Then, Z coming in, Jahmai and Jonas, all that group. Going through the COVID, going through everything, just so much respect for them," Barnes continued. "When you have a group of guys, especially Santi and Josiah, who were with us trying to get this thing back on track five years ago. Because I felt they had my same feeling, they were disappointed when I was disappointed, they knew that we needed to get better. "On days when I was probably a little bit upset with them, I realized there is something special about them. I truly have enjoyed being with them every day," Barnes said. "My first thoughts are I thank the good Lord for giving me the opportunity to be around a group of guys like this. The triumph also marked the 100th in SEC play for ninth-year head coach Rick Barnes, who has guided the Volunteers to an SEC regular season crown in two of the last seven seasons, tied for the most of any team in that time. 17/16 South Carolina, 66-59, on its home court Wednesday night to lock up the 11th SEC regular season championship in program history, including its sixth outright.įifth-year guard Dalton Knecht led all scorers with 26 points for fourth-ranked Tennessee (24-6, 14-3 SEC), which never trailed at a sold-out Colonial Life Arena on the way to, for the first time ever, defeating its third straight AP top-25 foe in as many outings, including its second in a row on the road, also a program first. – The University of Tennessee men's basketball team defeated No.
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