Knecht leads No. 4 Tennessee against No. 15 Kentucky after 26-point game

Published Mar. 9, 2024 3:42 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Kentucky Wildcats (22-8, 12-5 SEC) at Tennessee Volunteers (24-6, 14-3 SEC)

Knoxville, Tennessee; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Volunteers -7.5; over/under is 166.5

BOTTOM LINE: No. 4 Tennessee takes on No. 15 Kentucky after Dalton Knecht scored 26 points in Tennessee's 66-59 victory against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Volunteers have gone 14-1 in home games. Tennessee is third in the SEC with 25.7 defensive rebounds per game led by Josiah-Jordan James averaging 4.9.

The Wildcats are 12-5 in SEC play. Kentucky is the best team in the SEC scoring 15.8 fast break points per game.

Tennessee makes 45.2% of its shots from the field this season, which is 2.2 percentage points higher than Kentucky has allowed to its opponents (43.0%). Kentucky averages 9.7 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.2 more made shots on average than the 7.5 per game Tennessee allows.

TOP PERFORMERS: Knecht is shooting 47.3% and averaging 20.7 points for the Volunteers. Zakai Zeigler is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Antonio Reeves is shooting 43.5% from beyond the arc with 2.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Wildcats, while averaging 20 points. Rob Dillingham is averaging 16.8 points and 3.9 assists over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Volunteers: 9-1, averaging 83.7 points, 38.3 rebounds, 17.2 assists, 7.8 steals and 4.8 blocks per game while shooting 46.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.6 points per game.

Wildcats: 7-3, averaging 91.7 points, 35.6 rebounds, 17.0 assists, 7.8 steals and 6.0 blocks per game while shooting 51.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 82.9 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.