The Tennessee Volunteers have had to wait a while to take the court in Nashville after earning the SEC regular season title. They will play either Mississippi State or LSU in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Friday to begin their run.

With the top scorer in the conference, Tennessee returns to the top seed in the SEC Tournament after winning it last in 2022.Although Rick Barnes has always focused his team’s strengths on defense, the addition of Dalton Knecht to manage his offense has elevated the Volunteers to the status of a national championship contender. To secure a No. 1 seed in the championship game, Knecht must first guide Tennessee through the SEC Tournament. To do so, he might require a few large scoring performances.

Or Tennessee’s highest-scoring effort in a win from March 9, 2016, in the first round of the SEC tournament.

MATCHUP

TIGERS

59

VOLUNTEERS

97

2016First Round

Knecht will now need to step up if the Vols are to reach those absurd point totals and keep up with Kentucky, a team that plays at a fast pace this year. With 40 points, he now has the second-highest single-game point total in Tennessee history, but he hasn’t yet made his mark in the record book for the SEC Tournament. These are the highest point totals that any player in Tennessee has ever had in an SEC Tournament.