Mississippi State's Knecht Shines Despite Tennessee's Rally

Starkville, MS - In a battle of SEC basketball heavyweights, Mississippi State’s Dalton Knecht put on an offensive clinic, scoring 23 points, but it wasn’t quite enough as Tennessee used a furious second-half rally to take down the Bulldogs 72-68 on Thursday night.

Knecht was unconscious in the first half, knocking down six three-pointers to stake Mississippi State to a 45-28 halftime lead. The senior guard could not miss, hitting tough contested shots and finding himself wide open thanks to crisp ball movement from his teammates.

“Dalton was outstanding tonight,” said Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans. “He got into an incredible rhythm in that first half. We were really feeding off his hot shooting.”

However, Tennessee would not go away quietly. Led by senior forward Josiah-Jordan James’ 18 second-half points, the Volunteers slowly chipped away at the deficit. A 16-4 run midway through the second period pulled them within five at 56-51 with 7:42 remaining.

“Our guys showed a lot of toughness and grit to battle back after being down big,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “Josiah really put the team on his back and willed us back into the game.”

Tennessee finally took its first lead since the opening minutes when James drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key to make it 63-62 with 3:08 left. The teams then traded leads over the final three minutes in a back-and-forth affair.

With the game tied at 68 in the final minute, freshman reserve guard BJ Edwards gave Tennessee the lead for good, burying a huge corner three off a kick-out pass from James with 24 seconds left.

After a missed three from Knecht, Tennessee hit one of two free throws, and Knecht’s desperation 35-footer at the buzzer fell short as the Vols escaped with the huge road victory.

“Just a disappointing finish for us, but Tennessee is an experienced team and they made the plays down the stretch,” Jans said. “Dalton had a brilliant game but he just couldn’t get that final three to fall.”

James finished with 24 points to lead all scorers while Edwards chipped in 13 off the bench for Tennessee (22-7, 11-5 SEC). In addition to Knecht’s 23, Cameron Matthews added 14 points for Mississippi State (19-10, 7-9 SEC).

The win keeps Tennessee in the hunt for a regular season SEC title while Mississippi State will likely need a deep run in the SEC Tournament to solidify an NCAA Tournament berth.

Up next, Tennessee returns home to face Arkansas on Saturday while Mississippi State travels to LSU. Both teams still have two games remaining in the regular season.