by Riley Haltom
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The No. 2-seed Tennessee Volunteers took down the No. 3-seed Kentucky Wildcats off a dominant defensive performance in Lucas Oil Stadium, 78-65.
Tennessee had lost both regular-season meetings with Kentucky, dropping the first 78-73 and the second 75-64. With a hostile crowd, the Vols stifled the Wildcat offense to advance to the Elite Eight. Here are my takeaways from the win:
Zeigler Backs Up the Talk
Going viral for a photo of him flipping off the Kentucky logo after advancing to the Sweet 16, senior guard Zakai Zeigler had a lot of pressure to perform on gameday against Kentucky. He backed it up. Zeigler set the tone for the Vols, leading the team with 18 points and 10 assists.
In what felt like the play where Tennessee really slammed the door on Kentucky, Felix Okpara slammed it, and as Kentucky inbounded the ball, Chaz Lanier tipped it and Zeigler knocked down a three-pointer. From that point, Kentucky failed to get any momentum going and Tennessee was able to close it out.
Zeigler once again proved how invaluable he is to the Vols, on the court and as a leader. Zeigler explained the mindset going into a third matchup with a team that beat them twice.
“The first two times we didn’t play Tennessee basketball, and we wanted to show them what that looked like from the start tonight.”
Mashack’s Defense Comes Up Big
Jahmai Mashack made the difference defensively. It wasn’t the four point, three assist, three rebound statline that impressed me. It was the five steals, the stifling defense all the way up the floor, and the hustle plays that a box score can never accurately show that impressed me. Mashack continues to be this do-it-all defender for Tennessee that Rick Barnes uses like a homing missile. Need someone shut down? Mashack’s your man.
Lanier and Gainey Make Big Contributions
Jordan Gainey had a great offensive performance once again, dropping 16 points, three boards, and an assist on 50% shooting. Lanier started the game slow, with just six points on 2-7 shooting going into the half. In the second half though, Lanier dropped 11 points on 5-9 shooting. Lanier also added four rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Barnes highlighted the contributions Jordan Gainey has made.
“I think one of the biggest compliments that Jordan should get, when we’re on the road or someplace like this, and they introduce the players, we never come out because we don’t consider that we’ve got just five starters. We consider him a starter, and that’s a tradition we’ve had all year.”
Forwards Shine When Needed Most
I’ve called out Tennessee’s bigs several times, be it on the Rock Solid Sports live radio shows, on podcast appearances, or on articles like these. I’m not unfair though. The forwards came up huge against Kentucky, particularly Okpara on the boards. Tennessee outrebounded Kentucky 34-24, and Okpara was a big reason for that. Okpara totaled eight points, 11 rebounds, and a block for the Vols. Of those 11 rebounds, seven were offensive boards. Okpara felt like he got back on track against Kentucky.
“It felt like we were playing Tennessee basketball, playing aggressive, playing smart… For me, just playing my heart out, playing aggressive and trying to play defensive.”
The rest of Tennessee’s forwards deserve a shoutout as well, with Igor Milicic Jr., in spite of his early fouls being an issue yet again, dropping eight points, four boards, and a steal. Cade Phillips added two points, three boards, an assist, and a block.
Most impressive of the group outside of Okpara was Darlinstone Dubar. Dubar has slowly carved out more minutes as the season has progressed, and has been especially important as of late as teams have targeted Tennessee’s bigs to get them in foul trouble. Dubar played 14 integral minutes for the Vols, notching five points, two boards, an assist, and a block.
What’s Next?
The Vols will face the winner of No. 1 Houston and No. 4 Purdue on Sunday in the Elite Eight. Houston has led one of the most dominant defenses in the country, and their matchup with the equally impressive Tennessee defense would be fun. Purdue has some bad blood with Tennessee, being the team that put Tennessee out of the tournament last season. They will play for a spot in the Final Four in San Antonio.