Suddenly the focus on defense, rebounding and a slow tempo looks pretty good. Everything fans have respected and complained about when it comes to how Rick Barnes has coached Tennessee Basketball on the season worked in the Vols’ favor as they beat the Kentucky Wildcats 78-65 in the Sweet 16 Friday.
UT lost twice to Kentucky on the year thanks to two red-hot shooting performances from three by a UK team that can shoot from the outside but isn’t as good as it appeared in those two games. They went 12-of-24 both times. Meanwhile, Chaz Lanier was still learning how to play without enough spacing, something non-conference play didn’t prepare him for.
All of that went out the window in this game.
Kentucky actually shot solid from three, going 6-of-15, or 40 percent, and Tennessee Basketball was 5-of-19, or 26.3 percent, from beyond the arc. It didn’t matter. The Vols defended, found other ways to put points on the board and made sure to win the 50-50 balls. That’s why they are headed to the Elite Eight.
Consider for a second just the fact that Kentucky shot 15 threes. They’ve been hitting nine and a half while attempting nearly 26 a game on the year. What changed here? Well, the Vols, the best three-point defensive team in the nation, defended it so well they didn’t allow too many good looks.
In addition to that aspect of the defense, they forced turnovers against a team that takes care of the ball. Jahmai Mashack did his part on that, coming away with five steals on the night and continuing to make sure Kentucky paid if it tried to turn up the tempo at all.
Offensively, with the three-point shot falling, the Vols had to find other ways to get to the basket. Enter the dribble-drive, which they used to perfection. Zakai Zeigler consistently went iso on Kentucky’s weak defense and attacked the bucket, which is why he finished with a team-leading 18 points.
When Zeigler wasn’t creating for himself, he was creating for others. Chaz Lanier was off from three, going 1-of-6, but still managed 17 points with his aggression, which Zeigler often set up, and Jordan Gainey only hit one three off the bench but still managed 16 points for the same reason. There’s a reason Zeigler had 10 assists.
Then came the 50-50 balls. Tennessee outrebounded Kentucky 34-24, coming away with 14 offensive rebounds to Kentucky’s seven. Felix Okpara was the star of the game, coming away with seven offensive boards and 11 rebounds overall. He had a block as well along with Cade Phillips and Darlinstone Dubar.
If you can point to one aspect of the game that separated these teams, it was those boards. Mark Pope tried a zone twice against Tennessee, but both times, after forcing a miss, his team gave up another rebound, so he had to go back to man. That’s just how this game was going to play out.
Simply put, everything this Tennessee Basketball team was known for was on display in an easy win.
Barnes isn’t some old-school coach who will only play a slow pace and focus on defense and rebounding every year. However, the makeup of this year’s team combined with J.P. Estrella’s season-ending injury, Cameron Carr’s transfer and Darlinstone Dubar’s lack of emergence forced him to do that. He put what he could do on display in this game, and it worked like a charm.
