Vols guard Dalton Knecht ‘progressing’ following ankle injury
Tennessee basketball guard Dalton Knecht is progressing after suffering an ankle injury in last week’s loss to North Carolina.
Tennessee star guard Dalton Knecht is progressing following the left ankle injury he suffered in last Wednesday’s loss at North Carolina, Vols head coach Rick Barnes told the media on Monday afternoon.
“He’s moving around, doing what we’ve asked him to do, and he tells me he feels okay,” Barnes said. “We’ll see. I just think it’s day-by-day right now.”
Knecht hasn’t been ruled out for Tennessee’s game against George Mason on Tuesday night inside of Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
“It depends on him, if he wants to play,” Barnes said. “We’ll hold him out if we don’t think he’s ready. But players like that, they want to play. We’ll leave it up to what (trainer) Chad (Newman) and (Knecht) thinks, but we’ll know more after practice today.”
Knecht left Tennessee’s 100-92 loss at then-ranked No. 17 North Carolina in the ACC/SEC Challenge when he turned his left ankle while driving towards the basket with 1:39 remaining. He didn’t return to the game after having to be helped to the bench.
“He stepped on somebody’s foot, turned his ankle,” Barnes said following the game. “It looked like he got it pretty good because he’s the kind of guy that, he bounces back. And for him not to get up, he got it pretty good. Looked good when I saw the whole thing. He stepped on somebody’s foot and rolled it.”
Knecht was in the midst of leading Tennessee back from a 61-39 halftime deficit when he turned his ankle. He scored 22 second-half points to cut North Carolina’s lead to six points at the time he left the game, finishing with a game-high 37 points.
It was the most points were the most by a visitor in the Dean Smith Center in the last 14 seasons, and also tied Lionel Simmons (Jan. 1988) for the most ever by a visitor. It was the most points against North Carolina in any game since former Kentucky guard Malik Monk had 47 in Dec. of 2016 in Las Vegas.
Knecht also became the first Vol with 30 points in a game since Jaden Springer did so against Georgia on Feb. 10, 2021. The last Vol to score at least 35 points was Grant Williams against Vanderbilt on Jan. 23, 2019.
“It wasn’t surprising to see because I see it on a daily basis,” Vols guard Josiah-Jordan James said. “He was hot and if he gets going, that’s the type of games he can have and, you know, we just gotta do better as a team.I have to do better individually of getting guys ready. But what he was able to do in that second half keeping us alive on the offensive end really paid off. And I’m proud of him and I know he’ll be just fine.”
Knecht finished the game 13-of-17 from the floor, 4-of-8 from three and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. He added six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal in 37 minutes.
“Everything’s an adjustment,” James responded when asked about potential adjustments if Knecht has to miss time. “Our mentality is next man up mentality and we just gotta prepare. I’m comfortable with anybody stepping up and taking his place. Obviously it’ll be different just because of how well he scores the ball offensively, but, you know, somebody else can come in and add something completely different that can change. I’m confident in whoever needs to step up will step up.”
Tennessee will be back in action on Tuesday night when it returns home for the first time in over three weeks to host George Mason at 6:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.
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