by Riley Haltom
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers took down the top overall NCAA Tournament seed Auburn Tigers in Bridgestone Arena, 70-65. The Vols survived a thriller at the end to stay in play for the SEC Tournament Championship. Here are my takeaways from the intense semifinal win for Tennessee:
Mashack Takeover
To borrow a term popularized by the NBA 2K series, Jahmai Mashack activated his takeover. Mashack was everywhere, used defensively by coach Rick Barnes like a homing missile, just finding the ball and making life for the ball handler difficult. Mashack finished with six points, all off free throws, including the last two clutch makes with a poked eye, along with two each of rebounds, assists, and steals. The stats don’t even begin to quantify how effective Mashack was at making the Auburn offense uncomfortable.
Big Bench Minutes
The Tennessee bench of Cade Phillips, Jordan Gainey, and Darlinstone Dubar were crucial to Tennessee’s win over the Tigers. Gainey was the second leading scorer for the Vols, with 15 points and five rebounds.
Phillips was asked to guard the National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome because Felix Okpara once again found himself in foul trouble, and rose to the occasion. Phillips added four points and three boards alongside handling the matchup of Broome.
Dubar, who notched the least minutes in the regular season of the trio, added six points and three rebounds in crucial minutes with Igor Milicic Jr. in foul trouble. Zakai Zeigler was impressed with the way Dubar etched himself a role against the Tigers.
“Coach Barnes has been preaching to him, you got to do your job, rebound, come in and play defense. His energy was great. On offense, he spreads the floor out. The way he fought, played defense, it was amazing. His minutes were great for us.”
Zeigler and Lanier Duo
Zakai Zeigler and Chaz Lanier were dominant for the Vols offensively. Lanier set the tone, finishing with 12 points, an assist, four rebounds, and a block. When Zeigler got hot, the Vols offense kicked into gear. Zeigler finished with 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal. If those two continue to play the way they played against Auburn, they can lead the Vols to wins over any team in the country. Barnes spoke about how important Zeigler was to the win.
“Today he was in great command of himself because he’s so competitive. I mean, if you could have been in the huddle hearing him talk to his team, big-time leader today. The way he saw the game developing, the way it unfolded, he had a presence about himself today that was outstanding.”
Free Throw Masterclass
The Vols won the semifinal matchup off the strength of their free-throw shooting. On the season, the Vols as a team are average free throw shooters, landing around 73.6% and seventh in the SEC. Against Texas in the quarterfinals, Tennessee shot a measly 68.6%. The Vols bounced back in free throw shooting, with a phenomenal 92.6% free throw line. That’s just two misses on 27 attempts. Auburn shot 13-22, or 59.1% at the line. Zeigler explained the change from yesterday.
“Yesterday we missed a lot of free throws down the stretch. Especially from some guys, like myself, that should be making ’em… We went to that free-throw line, take our time, but we knew we was going to make the shot.”
What’s Next?
The Vols await the winner of Alabama and Florida’s matchup in the SEC Tournament Championship on Sunday. The winner of that game is potentially playing for the final 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament.