Tennessee got its revenge Saturday and moved into a two-way tie for first place in the SEC in the process.
Two weeks to the day that the Vols were upset on the road at Texas A&M, they returned the favor in a big way turning a close game into a second half rout to win 86-51 at Food City Center.
Following Alabama‘s blowout loss at Kentucky earlier in the day, Tennessee (21-6, 11-3 SEC) drew even with the Crimson Tide in the league standings as March approaches.
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Dalton Knecht paced the Vols with a game-high 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 from three-point range while Jonas Aidoo notched a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Zakai Zeigler dished 14 assists and recorded four steals and had zero turnovers.
After scoring 27 and 23 points in the first match up, Texas A&M (15-12, 6-8) guards Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford finished with 11 points each Jace Carter totaled 10 points.
Tennessee looked like it was letting out its frustrations in the first couple of minutes.
Knecht opened with a layup, Josiah-Jordan James knocked down a jumper and a Knecht 3-pointer put the Vols up 11-3 just over four minutes into the first half, but Taylor hit back-to-back threes to help the Aggies withstand Tennessee’s hot start to pull within three.
Texas A&M took its first lead at 15-13 on an Obaseki layup as offensive fouls on the other end plagued the Vols and kept them off balance until Tobe Awaka pulled down a two-handed dunk to end a three-plus minute scoring drought.
A steal from Zeigler that setup a put-back by Jahmai Mashack gave Tennessee a 17-15 lead around around the midway point of the half. Zeigler extended the Vols’ run to 7-0 with a 3-pointer out of a timeout to pull ahead 20-15.
Another scoreless stretch for Tennessee allowed Texas A&M to overcome its own offensive woes. Carter’s 3-pointer with five minutes, 41 seconds to go in the half cut the Vols’ lead to one at 22-21.
Carter hit another two possessions later to even the score at 24-24.
As back-and-forth as much of the first 20 minutes were, Tennessee managed to create some separation for itself, closing out the half on a 13-3 run that was capped by a Santiago Vescovi corner three at the buzzer to lead 37-27 at the break.
The Vols’ strong close to the first half poured over into the second. Both Knecht and Vescovi tallied 3-pointers and an assertive dunk from Aidoo put Tennessee up 47-32, forcing Texas A&M into a timeout just three minutes into the period.
The Vols piled on from that point, stretching their lead to 20 at 59-39 after Mashack scored off of Texas A&M turnover with 10 minutes, 27 seconds remaining.
Tennessee’s suffocating defense made it hard for the Aggies to find any kind of rhythm. Texas A&M was shooting just 29.6% from the field more than halfway through the half.
Two sequences set up by the Vols’ defense defined the half. The first was when Zeigler stepped in front of a pass at halfcourt and finished off his fourth steal with a reverse layup. The second came when Knecht grabbed a defensive board and lobbed a pass to Aidoo who finished it off with a dunk to give Tennessee a 70-45 advantage.
Texas A&M entered the game averaging more than 43 rebounds per game, which is good for second in the conference.
The Aggies held a considerable edge there in their previous meeting with Tennessee and it made a difference.
The Vols were out-rebounded, 43-35 which led to 15 second chance points for Texas A&M.
Tennessee dominated the paint in the second go around, beating the Aggies on the boards, 50-33.
Aidoo was the catalyst.
After scoring just 6 points and finishing with only five rebounds two weeks ago, Aidoo offered a commanding presence that Texas A&M had no answer for.
Tennessee starts off a daunting final four-game stretch to end the regular season with No. 14 Auburn in Knoxville on Wednesday.
The Tigers (21-6, 10-4) are coming off of a 97-76 win over Georgia on Saturday and are currently tied for second place in the league standings with South Carolina.
Tennessee split its two meetings with Auburn last season, winning one at home and losing on the road.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
