On Monday, we wrote that No. 12 ranked Tennessee Basketball did not look like a Rick Barnes-coached team in the Vols’ 80-64 win over the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs. We can erase that fear, though, after the way the Vols dominated Louisville on the road.
UT beat the Cardinals, who are led by first-year head coach Pat Kelsey, 77-55 Saturday afternoon. The Vols opened the game on a 10-0 run and never looked back. While there were still some issues, a dominating road win like this is never something to scoff at.
So what is different about this game than the Vols’ opener? Tennessee Basketball returned to playing superb defense. A team like Gardner-Webb should never be allowed to break 50 against a group of players led by Barnes. Adjust that for Louisville’s talent and it being on the road, and you can up that to 65.
Well, UT held Louisville to 10 points below that and nine points fewer than what Gardner-Webb scored on them. Louisville going 10-of-39 from three helped, but many of those shots were contested. The truth is the Vols just played great half-court defense for much of the game.
What about the offense?
This is obviously where the concern always exists for a Barnes-coached team, and the Vols did benefit from going 10-of-19 on three-point shots. That would still seem to raise the question as to whether or not they will be a streaky team, which has been common in years past under Barnes. It’s even worse that they only scored 77 with that percentage.
However, there are a few things to take note of. For starters, Zakai Zeigler had 11 turnovers, nine in the first half. That’s going to happen as he gets back into rhythm early in the year. It won’t be an issue for the Vols when March comes around, assuming he stays healthy.
In fact, Zeigler showed who he really is late. As Louisville was cutting it close, he was the one who took over. He hit three threes and a layup in about a six-minute span in the second half, doing his part to help UT turn a 47-38 lead into a 69-43 lead. Zeigler finished with 19 points, seven assists and three steals while going 4-of-7 from three.
Chaz Lanier also did his part, proving to be this year’s go-to scorer for the Vols, as he also had 19 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the outside. He is now 7-of-12 for the year from beyond the arc, and while that won’t last, he has proven he also knows how to manufacture points when needed.
Meanwhile, Jahmai Mashack lived up to his defensive hype with three steals, and Felix Okpara proved his imposing presence inside with 10 points and six rebounds. Jordan Gainey, Igor Milicic Jr. and Cade Phillips were all able to do their part to help out as well in different ways.
Most notably, though, Tennessee Basketball is still without Darlinstone Dubar for personal reasons. The Hofstra Pride transfer is built like Dalton Knecht and should have the same imposing offensive presence as a result. Meanwhile, J.P. Estrella played but was hurt.
Once those to players return to form, the Vols will have a complete offense, and Zeigler’s turnovers would likely crater along with experience. If those two things happened in this game, then Rocky Top would have been pushing 100 points with this level of shooting.
Simply put, Tennessee Basketball is improving under Barnes, and they once again have an elite team. At 2-0, the Vols will return home to face the Montana Grizzlies next Wednesday, and at 1-1, Louisville will return home to face the Bellarmine Knights two Tuesdays from now. They have a week off.
