Dalton Knecht suffers ankle injury for Tennessee basketball at North Carolina
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. − Dalton Knecht left Tennessee basketball's loss to North Carolina with 1:39 left to play with a left ankle injury.
"He stepped on somebody’s foot and turned his ankle" Vols coach Rick Barnes said. "It looked like he got it pretty good because he's the kind of guy that, he bounces back. For him not to get up, he got it pretty good."
The No. 11 Vols guard had 37 points prior to the injury, pulling UT from a 24-point deficit to within single digits in its 100-92 loss to the No. 16 Tar Heels.
Knecht was driving to the hoop when he appeared to roll his ankle. He stayed down on the court and crumbled back to it when his teammates tried to help him up. He was evaluated on the court before being helped to the bench. Jonas Aidoo entered to shoot free throws for Knecht, who remained at the end of the bench.
Knecht, a Northern Colorado transfer, has been Tennessee's best scorer this season. He is averaging 20.3 points and shooting 40.5% on 3-pointers. He is making 50.5% of his shots as the Vols prepare to host George Mason on Tuesday (6:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network+) at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
He was 13-for-17 shooting and hit 4-of-8 on 3-pointers against North Carolina. Knecht's 37 points tied La Salle's Lionel Simmons for the most points scored by a visiting player the Dean Smith Center. Simmons did so in January 1988.
The 6-foot-6 guard transferred to Tennessee for his final season. He has led the Vols (4-3) in scoring in six of seven games.
RISING: Tennessee basketball was lost in its loss at North Carolina. It found something in Jonas Aidoo.
Tennessee also was without forward Tobe Awaka (ankle) and guard Freddie Dilione V (foot) against the Tar Heels. Awaka missed his first game after injuring his right ankle against Syracuse on Nov. 20. He played in UT's final two games in Maui before sitting out against UNC. Dilione has missed four games with a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his left foot.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Dalton Knecht injury update: Tennessee basketball guard hurt ankle at North Carolina
