Tennessee is eager to secure their seventh victory in eight matches as they head to Texas A&M for a Southeastern Conference clash at College Station, Texas this Saturday.
The solitary setback for the No. 6 Volunteers (17-5, 7-2 SEC) in the last seven games was a 63-59 defeat at home to South Carolina on Jan. 30. The Volunteers responded with an impressive 103-92 victory on the road against Kentucky last Saturday and an 88-68 triumph over LSU at home on Wednesday.
Texas A&M (14-8, 5-4) has also been in good form lately with four wins in their last five games.
Dalton Knecht continues to deliver outstanding performances for the Volunteers, contributing 27 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three blocks, and two steals in the win over LSU.
This marked the seventh occasion in the last eight games where Knecht has achieved 25 or more points, maintaining an average of 29.5 points during this period.
Knecht wasn’t wrapped up about whether or not the performance was his best all-around effort of the season.
“I just care about the win,” said Knecht, who is averaging 20.2 points per game. “I went downhill and was looking for my teammates or just looking for my own shot.”
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes acknowledged the significant contribution of Knecht to the team’s offensive strategy.
“You’ve got a guy like that, who has a knack for scoring,” Barnes said. “And when we do run some isolation plays, which we did because we need him to do that, with his back to the basket, he’s going have to make the right read out of it as opposed to trying to be overly aggressive.”
The victory marked Barnes’ 796th win in his career, also featuring commendable performances from guards Jordan Gainey and Zakai Zeigler.
Gainey demonstrated his prowess with three 3-pointers and a season-best 18 points while Zeigler delivered an all-around stellar performance with 17 points, nine assists, and equalling his career-best of five steals.
The Aggies seek to secure a second consecutive home victory against the Volunteers, having clinched a 68-63 win last season with 25 points from Wade Taylor IV.
Taylor continues to excel for the Aggies this season, leading with an average of 19.7 points. He has surpassed 30 points on five occasions, including a career-best 41-point performance during a narrow 78-77 loss to Arkansas on Jan. 16.
In Texas A&M’s 79-60 victory over Missouri on Wednesday, Taylor contributed 18 points and four steals. Tyrece Radford led the charge with 22 points in his second consecutive 20-point display and fifth of the campaign.
While the offensive contributions were lauded, Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams expressed his enthusiasm for Andersson Garcia‘s impressive 16 rebounds, marking his ninth double-digit rebound figure this season.
“I’ve never seen someone that has the impact on the game that he does that doesn’t have to have the ball and or doesn’t have to score,” Williams said of Garcia. “What he does changes the entire game because it allows us to stay in control in many respects.”
Williams reminded reporters that he compared Garcia to one of the all-time top rebounders in NBA history earlier this season.
“Andy just has an innate sense,” Williams said. “As I said a month or so ago, he’s Dennis Rodman when that ball’s in flight.”
Garcia maintains a team-high average of 8.9 rebounds, contributing 6.2 points.
The teams will face each other again on Feb. 24 in Knoxville, Tenn.
