KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team came back from an eight-point deficit with under 13 minutes to play Wednesday night, defeating No. 11 Auburn, 92-84, in a top-15 showdown in front of a record-setting crowd of 22,547 at Food City Center.
Fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht poured in a co-career-best 39 points, including 25 in the final 12:01, to lead fourth-ranked Tennessee (22-6, 12-3 SEC) to victory. His dazzling performance helped the program win its 12th straight home contest against an AP top-25 foe, good for an SEC record, including its ninth in a row against a top-15 opponent.
The Volunteers took a six-point lead on five separate occasions in the first frame, but never extended it beyond that. Twice, Auburn (21-7, 10-5 SEC) responded seven straight points, the second such occurrence coming late in the half in just 1:15 to go in front, 35-34, with 2:05 on the clock.
After the teams exchanged free throws, Tennessee went on an 8-3 run in the final 75 ticks of the session, capping it with a 3-pointer from junior guard Zakai Zeigler in the closing seconds to claim a 44-40 edge at the break. Both sides made 13 shots in the opening half, the home team on 28 attempts and the visitors on 30, while each only missed one free throw, as Tennessee shot 14-of-15 (93.3 percent) and Auburn went 9-of-10 (90.0 percent).
Zeigler opened the second half with another 3-pointer, giving the Volunteers their first three-possession advantage. Knecht added two free throws just 27 seconds later to make it a 13-3 extended burst and put Tennessee up by a game-best nine points, 49-40, with 19:08 to go.
The Tigers, though, countered by scoring 23 of the next 29 points in 5:59 to earn a game-high eight-point advantage, 63-55, with 12:17 remaining. Knecht then went on a personal 11-3 run in just 2:06 to level the score at 66 with 9:55 on the timer. After Auburn junior forward/center Johni Broome and Zeigler exchanged 3-pointers, Knecht hit back-to-back jump-shots, sandwiched around a free throw at the other end, to give his team a 73-70 lead with 8:05 left.
Knecht continued his red-hot shooting and helped the Volunteers go in front by five, 84-77, with 3:12 remaining. That made it a 29-14 run over 8:50, with Knecht scoring 23 of Tennessee’s first 27 points during the initial 7:39.
Auburn got back within four, 86-62, just 62 seconds later, but Tennessee scored the next four points—two by Knecht and two on a layup by…
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