For the first time in history, Tennessee Basketball is headed to back-to-back Elite Eights. The Vols dominated the Kentucky Wildcats 78-65 in their Sweet 16 matchup in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium Friday in what was easily the biggest win in school history.
Rick Barnes’ Vols, the No. 2 seed and ranked No. 6 in both polls, hit the 30-win mark for just the third time in school history, improving to 30-7. The No. 3 seed Wildcats, ranked No. 18 in the AP Poll and No. 21 in the Coaches Poll, finishes the season 24-12 in Mark Pope’s first season.
UK swept the Vols in the regular season, winning at UT without Lamont Butler 78-73 and then beating the Vols in Lexington, Ky., 75-64 when Butler played banged up. This time, Butler was mostly healthy, and Kentucky had a slight home-court advantage playing three hours away in Indiana.
None of it mattered.
Kentucky’s only lead in this game was 3-2 off a Kobe Brea three. Felix Okpara got a bucket on the next possession to put the Vols back up 4-3.
A Zakai Zeigler and-one to break a 4-4 tie put Tennessee Basketball in the lead for good, as they went up 7-4 just over three minutes into tipoff. Chaz Lanier hit an and-one with just under nine minutes to go put the Vols up by 11, and Kentucky never got within double digits after that.
UT led by as many as 19 in the first half and never really let Kentucky back in the game. Although Lanier had an off-night, going 1-of-6 from three, it didn’t matter, as he still scored 17 points. Zeigler, meanwhile, had a double-double, registering 18 points and 10 assists. Jordan Gainey had 16 off the bench.
Key for the Vols was rebounding, as they outrebounded the Wildcats 34-24. In terms of offensive rebounds alone, UT won the battle 14-7. Felix Okpara had seven offensive boards and 11 overall, truly doing his part to make sure UT dominated the game.
With just under 10 minutes to go, Kentucky did seem to be trying to claw back, as they cut the game to 60-48, and Lanier missed a jumper. However, Okpara got an offensive board and made a put-back, Lanier got a steal, and Zeigler then hit a three. That all happened within five seconds to put the Vols up 65-48, and they never looked back.
Up next for Tennessee Basketball is a Sunday matchup against the winner between the No. 4 seed Purdue Boilermakers and No. 1 seed Houston Cougars for a trip to the Final Four. This is the first time ever Rick Barnes has made back to back Elite Eights as well, and a trip to the Final Four would be his second and the Vols’ first.
