College basketball may be a sport most associated with March, but Tennessee and Georgia sure played a January game to remember Saturday afternoon inside Stegeman Coliseum.
The No. 5 Volunteers had a 14-point first-half lead erode into an 11-point second-half deficit, but they used a 21-4 closing run to pull out an 85-79 thriller and scissor the 10-game winning streak by the Bulldogs, which was their longest since the 1947-48 season. Fifth-year senior guard Dalton Knecht led Tennessee with 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, and a 7-of-9 showing at the free-throw line.
In Tennessee’s four true road games this season against Wisconsin, North Carolina, Mississippi State and Georgia, the 6-foot-6, 213-pound transfer from Northern Colorado has averaged 31.3 points.
“As a kid, you grow up always wanting to play in these type of environments,” Knecht said afterward in a news conference. “I think all of us have, and I think we all like to perform before these type of crowds.”
The Vols and Bulldogs are each 12-4 overall and 2-1 in Southeastern Conference play.