Tennessee basketball‘s dreams of being a No. 1 seed were riding high entering Saturday.
Then Kentucky and Reed Sheppard walked into Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center with a 3-point flamethrower and left those dreams of a top spot uncertain.
Dalton Knecht had his first career 40-point game in his final home game for the Vols, but Kentucky’s best incinerated the nets the Vols likely would have cut down Saturday as SEC champions. The Vols fell under Kentucky’s firepower in an 85-81 loss to the Wildcats on senior day.
Knecht had 40 points for No. 4 Tennessee (24-7, 14-4 SEC), which clinched the SEC on Wednesday. It was his seventh game with at least 30 points. Zakai Zeigler had 17.
No. 13 Kentucky hit 15 3-pointers, shooting 51.7%. It got 27 from Sheppard and 27 from Antonio Reeves.
The Vols had a chance to the game in the final 20 seconds, but Josiah-Jordan James missed a 3-pointer on the wing.
Tennessee’s No. 1 seed hopes took a hit
Tennessee put itself in position for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with its 66-59 win at South Carolina on Wednesday. It took a step back in the race with Arizona for the fourth top seed with Saturday’s loss.
UT has a chance to continue to make its case for the final top seed during the SEC Tournament, but could currently be looking at a No. 2 seed instead.
Dalton Knecht carried Tennessee’s offense
Knecht was Tennessee’s offense Saturday. That was especially true in the first half as he carried a largely stagnant Vols group to keep the halftime deficit to four. He had 19 points, including 15 of Tennessee’s 19 in the final 11:45.
Aidoo was UT’s second-leading scorer in the first half. He had four points.
Knecht shot 5-for-12 and was 3-for-6 on 3-pointers. The rest of the Vols were 3-for-20 shooting and 1-for-7 from three.
More:Untold stories of Dalton Knecht’s ascension to Tennessee basketball star, NBA Draft prospect
Kentucky gave Tennessee major problems from deep
Kentucky roasted Tennessee’s 3-point defense and made the shots at critical points. Sheppard was 7-for-10. Reeves was 3-for-5 and Justin Edwards was 4-for-7.
Sheppard and Reeves went back-to-back to extend Kentucky’s lead to 51-39 in the second half. Sheppard and Edwards followed with two straight to push the lead to 60-46 after Knecht provided another Vols push.
Up next
Tennessee is the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament as the regular-season champions. It will play at 1 p.m. ET Friday at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
First appeared on www.knoxnews.com