By Camden Gober
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 20 Tennessee flexed its depth in waves on Tuesday, wearing down No. 11 Louisville and running the Cardinals out of Thompson-Boling Arena, 83-62.
The Vols entered the matchup coming off a 10-day layoff and a three-game losing streak. To make matters worse, Tennessee announced during the break that junior forward Cade Phillips would miss the remainder of the season, dealing a significant blow to its frontcourt depth.
Fortunately for Tennessee, the roster Rick Barnes and his staff assembled was prepared for the challenge.
With Phillips being unavailable for the first time this season, questions lingered about how the Vols’ frontcourt would respond, and the group that took the floor in front of a sold-out Food City Center was more than up for the challenge.
True-freshman DeWayne Brown II got his first career start in Phillips’ place, but Jaylen Carey was the guy who opened some eyes. Carey finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, recording a double-double on the night, while also finishing with three assists. Carey is also one of those guys who does stuff on the court that just doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, but it makes a big difference in the game, and he had one of those nights.
“I think Jaylen could be terrific. I mean, you think about it, if he makes his free throws, he’s got what, a 20-point night (if) he makes just seven, you know what I mean? And a double-double, he could be that every night,” said Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes. “He’s just scratching the surface of what he could be, if he’s willing to make himself hurt. It hurts to be great.”
The Vols played 11 different players on Tuesday, nine of whom scored. What’s even more surprising is that each player played at least six minutes. Tennessee had three different players finish in double figures, headlined by Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s 23-point outing.
Louisville is a deep team in its own right, however Tennessee’s depth seemed to be overwhelming. There truly wasn’t a drop-off in energy when the Vols’ reserves subbed into the game, and over time, the Cardinals just ran out of gas compared to Tennessee.
Louisville was without freshman phenom Mikel Brown Jr., and without the head of its snake available, the Cardinals never had a chance to match the fresh legs and sheer number of guards Tennessee threw at them throughout the night.
“They’re physical in every single aspect,” Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said. “They want to make it hard for you to move and to cut and screen and things like that.”
Tennessee punched Louisville in the mouth early, and the body blows added up as the game unfolded. Combine that with the Cardinals’ decision to continue to press throughout the second half while trailing, and fatigue became unavoidable on the Louisville bench.
Louisville has one of the nation’s most prolific offenses because of its incredibly fast pace of play. Tonight, Tennessee forced the Cardinals into three shot clock violations. So the Vols didn’t just slow Louisville’s high-powered attack; they dragged it into the mud. On multiple possessions, Tennessee’s defense didn’t even allow the Cardinals to get a shot off, and those empty trips were deflating, game-changing moments.
Coming into tonight, Louisville was averaging more than 94 points per game. Tennessee held the Cardinals to a season-low 62 points.
You can’t overstate how impressive the Vols’ defense was against an offense of Louisville’s caliber. They held the Cards to 20.6% from three-point range, the lowest mark from behind the arc all season. Tennessee complemented that by shooting 39% from three-point range themselves.
I wouldn’t have gone as far as to call this a “must-win” for Tennessee so early in the season; however, after a 10-day layoff combined with a three-game losing streak, this one felt like a game the Vols had to have.
No. 20 Tennessee improved to 8-3 on the season with the win and moved to 2-2 in Quad 1 games. The Vols return to action one last time before the holidays on Sunday, hosting Gardner-Webb (1-12) at 3 p.m. on SEC Network+.