Tennessee’s strong defense stifled Kentucky’s offense, preventing the Wildcats from making open shots.
Despite losing twice to Kentucky in the regular season, Tennessee dominated the game and maintained a comfortable lead.
Tennessee lost twice to archrival Kentucky this season in men’s basketball. But they could sum up those setbacks with two words Friday night in Indianapolis.
So what?
So what if Kentucky beat the Volunteers at Food City Center and Rupp Arena during the regular season. So what if it beat them in January and February.
Tennessee reduced those regular-season defeats to a footnote in a 30-win season when it advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA men’s tournament with a 78-65 victory over the Wildcats at Lucas Oil Stadium.
After making the Elite Eight in consecutive seasons, the Volunteers are just one victory from reaching the Final Four for the first time.
Despite No. 3 seed Kentucky’s illustrious basketball history — which includes eight national championships — or its regular-season wins against Tennessee, this wasn’t an upset. The second-seeded Vols were a 4½-point favorite, and they wasted little time establishing their superiority.
Tennessee tightened up its defense after those regular-season mishaps, dominated the rebounding and left Kentucky playing catchup after taking a 29-17 lead.
The defense of the Volunteers stood out above all else.
Kentucky defeated Tennessee by 16 points combined during the regular season by piercing the elite defense with perimeter shooting. Coach Mark Pope’s team made 12 of 24 3-pointers in each game against a defense renowned for shutting down perimeter shooters.
But the Wildcats came up one great shooting night short when Tennessee played up to its defensive reputation in Game 3. Their offensive struggles became apparent even before the score mounted in UT’s favor.
Kentucky’s offense flowed beautifully in the previous matchups, repeatedly resulting in open shots. Tennessee slammed the openings shut this time while leading by as many as 19 points in the first half.
Shooters looked uncomfortable from the outset in the face of a more locked-in Tennessee defense. Their uneasiness was reflected in the stats (16 misses in their first 23 field-goal attempts).
Even when a Kentucky possession appeared promising, the outcome was pro-Tennessee. Andrew Carr could vouch for that late in the first half. He was headed for a breakaway basket when Volunteers guard Darlinstone Dubar chased him down and blocked his shot.
Tennessee’s victory wasn’t achieved on defense alone, though. Unlike in the January loss to Kentucky — when they took 45 3-point shots and made only 11 — they often succeeded in working for shorter-range attempts, and the approach paid off.
Senior point guard Zakai Zeigler led the way, as he has for much of the season. He scored 18 points, had 10 assists and committed only two turnovers while navigating his way past Kentucky’s larger guards.
Combine his efficiency with Tennessee’s 14-7 advantage in offensive rebounding, and it was too much for the Wildcats to overcome.
The NCAA Tournament has taught us that advantages can come and go in a flash, and seemingly safe leads can vanish in a flurry of baskets. For example, on Thursday night, Texas Tech overcame a 16-point, second-half deficit and beat Arkansas in overtime.
But Kentucky couldn’t make any headway against a Tennessee team that has demonstrated toughness as well as talent in its three consecutive NCAA Tournament wins. The Vols quickly seized a double-figure lead and didn’t loosen their grip on a one-sided game.
And never did anything to remind you how they lost two regular-season games to Kentucky.