Knecht leads No. 4 Tennessee to outright SEC crown with win at No. 17 South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Dalton Knecht had 26 points as No. 4 Tennessee withstood a late run by No. 17 South Carolina for a 66-59 victory Wednesday night that wrapped up its first Southeastern Conference regular-season title since 2018.

The Gamecocks (24-6, 12-5 SEC) cut a 14-point second-half deficit to 59-56 on Meechie Johnson's inside shot with 1:13 to go.

But the Volunteers (24-6, 14-3) hit seven foul shots the rest of the way to hold on and open a two-game cushion in the SEC with one to play.

Tennessee shared the regular-season title six years ago with Auburn. The last time the Vols had won it outright was 2008.

The game was billed as a showdown for the SEC lead and a full house turned out at the 18,000-seat arena for the chance to see South Carolina, picked last by the media in the SEC preseason poll, chase a title.

And the Gamecocks kept things close much of the first half, trailing 24-22 after Myles Stute's 3-pointer with less than four minutes left before the break.

That's when Knecht took over. He had 3-pointers on three of four possessions as Tennessee went on an 11-2 run over the final 3:29 of the period to lead 35-24 at the break.

Knecht made the opening basket of the second half and kept pouring it on. Midway through the period, with Tennessee ahead 42-34, Knecht drained a 3-pointer, got fouled and hit the free throw to extend the lead back to double digits.

Johnson led South Carolina with 18 points.

BIG PICTURE

Tennessee: The Vols are hard to stop when Knecht is hitting timely shots from outside. And he's got some help with forward Jonas Aidoo and guard Zakai Zeigler, who combined for 27 points and 14 rebounds.

South Carolina: It's been a memorable season already for the Gamecocks with an unexpected title chase in coach Lamont Paris' second season. Ahead is a likely NCAA Tournament berth, their first since a Final Four run in 2017.

UP NEXT

Tennessee finishes the regular season at home against No. 15 Kentucky on Saturday.

South Carolina goes on the road to close the season against Mississippi State.

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