Knecht leads No. 5 Tennessee to dominant win over Texas A&M

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dalton Knecht scored 24 points and No. 5 Tennessee beat Texas A&M 86-51 on Saturday night to tie Alabama for the Southeastern Conference lead and give coach Rick Barnes his 800th Division I victory.

The 69-year-old Barnes became the 14th coach to win 800 games at Division I schools. He also coached George Mason, Providence, Clemson and Texas, winning 402 games in 17 seasons with the Longhorns. He has 196 in nine seasons at Tennessee.

Jonas Aidoo had 18 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks to help the Volunteers (21-6, 11-3) win their fourth straight game. Zakai Zeigler had 14 assists and Tobe Awaka added 12 points. Tennessee shot 52.4% from the field.

Tyrese Radford and Wade Taylor IV led Texas A&M (15-12, 6-8) with 11 points each. The Aggies shot 27.3% from the field in dropping their fourth in a row.

Santiago Vescovi hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to put Tennessee up 37-27 at halftime.

THE TAKEAWAY

Texas A&M: Two weeks ago, the Aggies couldn’t miss from beyond the arc in their 16-point win over Tennessee. They hit 8 of 16 3-pointers in the first half and were up by 14 before the Vols knew what hit them. … Andersson Garcia was dominant on the boards with 17 rebounds.

Tennessee: The Vols control their own destiny for a double-bye in the SEC Tournament. … Tennessee continues to get production from different areas of its roster. Earlier this week it was Awaka off the bench to rescue the Vols against Missouri.

UP NEXT

Texas A&M: Host No. 20 South Carolina on Wednesday night.

Tennessee: Host No. 14 Auburn on Wednesday night.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball