In Italy Dalton Knecht showed why when he shoots 'you feel good about it going in'
Dalton Knecht has always been a scorer. That’s why Rick Barnes and his Tennessee coaching staff added the 6-foot-6 wing out of the NCAA Transfer Portal. During his unofficial debut with the Vols, during the three exhibition wins in Italy, Knecht lived up to the billing.
Knecht led Tennessee in scoring in Italy with 49 points over the three games and was the team’s leading scorer in each game.
He had a team-high 16 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the 3-point line in the 97-51 win over A.S. Stella Azzurra Monday night in Rome. He scored 19 points off the bench Saturday in the 116-90 win over the Lithuania U21 national team, going 4-for-7 from the 3-point line, and had 14 points against the Lithuanian team on Friday.
“Dalton, every time the ball leaves his hands, it feels like it’s going in,” Tennessee associate coach Justin Gainey said after the win Monday. “So when he gets good, open looks like he’s been getting, you feel good about it going in.”
Dalton Knecht shot 52.9% from field, 48.0% from three during Italy exhibitions
Knecht played 65 minutes over the three games, shooting 52.9 percent from the field (18-34) and 48.0 percent (12-25) from the 3-point line. He added nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks, against four turnovers.
“He’s been doing a good job finding those open spots,” Gainey said, “and I think his teammates have been doing a great job of finding him and hitting him on time and on target.”
The three exhibition games in Italy focused heavily on Knecht and Tennessee’s other newcomers, like USC Upstate transfer guard Jordan Gainey and redshirt freshman point guard Freddie Dilione V.
Gainey played the most minutes for the Vols in Italy, at 68 minutes, 14 seconds, and scored 38 points. He had seven assists, four steals and four turnovers while shooting 36.3 percent (13-33) from the field and 39.1 percent (9-23) from the 3-point line.
Dilione played just over 66 minutes over the three games, scoring 33 points to go with a team-high 16 assists. He had seven steals against six turnovers.
Jahmai Mashack on Tennessee’s newcomers: ‘I think we’re going to be good with them’
“As long as they stay confident, they stay aggressive,” junior wing Jahmai Mashack said of the newcomers, “I think we’re going to be good with them. I think they’re going to have fun on this team.”
Knecht averaged 20.2 points last season at Northern Colorado — he led the Big Sky Conference in scoring and finished 23rd among Division I players — before making the jump to Tennessee.
He averaged 23.9 points and shot 51.2 percent from the field in his second year at Northeastern in Colorado three years ago, playing junior college basketball out of high and having to earn his spot at Northern Colorado.
“He’s a versatile player,” head coach Rick Barnes said earlier this summer. “Offensively is skilled and can do a lot of different things.”
