Two of the top three teams in the SEC will face off Wednesday night in a highly competitive battle in hopes of reaching an SEC regular season championship.
No. 11 Auburn (21-6, SEC 10-4) faces No. 5 Tennessee (21-6, SEC 11-3) on the road where Bruce Pearl looks to avenge the loss the Tigers took last year when the team traveled there and lost in a shaky offensive performance.
“It’s almost March and we’re still playing for championships,” Pearl said. “There are six teams right now in our league that are within a game or two of first place. Every game now, home or on the road, are precious. Tennessee, I’ve been saying all along, they’re the best team in the league. They’re experienced, so well coached, they’ve got great guard play, dangerous from three, guys that can really protect the rim. One of the best defensive teams in the country."
The Tigers No. 1 player on their scouting report will be Dalton Knecht, contender for the SEC Player of the Year award who is averaging 20.1 points per game and 24.3 in SEC play.
He is a player that can score from all three levels and is a big guard that can post an opponent up and beat them off the dribble. He’s also become more of a playmaker and has been able to create for teammates in past games.
“He’s going to get his (shots), you just don’t want him to go off," Pearl said. "You know, understanding their personnel and their strengths and their weaknesses. You know people have him as high as top five in their draft board for next year. What a great story he is. He can do it all at both ends of the floor. Presents a real matchup problem because he’s one of one of biggest guards our guards will face, and one of most skilled forwards our forwards we’ll face."
Zakai Zeigler and Jonas Aidoo are his counterparts in scoring as they are the only other two players on the team averaging double figures. Both are also tremendous on the defensive end as Aidoo averages about two blocks per game and Zeigler averages two steals per game.
Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi are both super seniors who have seen dips in their production this year but are still skillful players that fit in Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes' system who can defend and make shots when needed.
In terms of the Volunteers bench, it’s not as deep as the Tigers, but it is productive. Tobe Awaka is a fierce rebounder and Jahmai Mashack is one of the best on-ball defenders in the SEC. Transfer Jordan Gainey can get hot from three if he’s feeling it but has been off as of late – it will be best to keep him that way as he can be a dangerous scorer off the bench.
The main key to the Tigers winning this game against the Vols on their home floor is to only allow Knecht to beat you and not let any of his supporting cast get into double figures and shoot well.
“Of course, Dalton is a great player, but they also have a lot of other good players on their team,” said Auburn's Chaney Johnson. “Even though we are going to put a little more attention on him, we’ve got to focus on everybody else because they’re a great team as a whole. And if we can stop some guys around Dalton, it probably will make it a lot easier to key in on him a lot more."
The last time the Vols lost on their home floor, South Carolina defeated them 63-59 in a low-scoring game where Knecht scored 31 points and Zeigler and Aidoo combined for 8 points on 2-of-14 shooting.
Bruce is 8-6 against Tennessee, 2-4 in Knoxville since becoming the Auburn head coach and will look to tack on another game to the win column. Though to do that, he’ll need players like Chad Baker-Mazara to step up as he did in the game against Georgia to help Johni Broome and company keep competing for a regular season conference title.
Additionally, Auburn forward Jaylin Williams, who suffered a knee injury in the loss to Kentucky, will travel with the team but is a "game-time decision" according to Pearl.
"It's possible he could play tomorrow," Pearl said. "We'll see how he does today. He moved around a lot (in practice) yesterday, more than we thought he would. That may just be a game-time decision."
Auburn and Tennessee are set to meet one another on Wednesday, Feb. 28. The game will tip off at 6 p.m. CST and be televised on ESPN2.
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