Tennessee dismantles LSU, looks unbeatable in the process
The Tennessee Volunteers took care of business on Wednesday night, beating the LSU Tigers by a score of 88-68.
The Vols jumped out to a 15-1 lead within the game’s first 4 minutes and left no doubt that they were the far superior team. The always-stellar Tennessee defense flexed its muscles throughout the game racking up 13 steals and 6 blocks. The 3-point shooting that the Vols showed off in Rupp Arena was terrific again with the Vols going 11-24 from beyond the arc. Dalton Knecht had a bounce-back game with 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Tennessee is firing on all cylinders right now, and in my eyes, it boils down to 3 key factors.
First off, Zakai Zeigler has been playing like an All-American. Zeigler followed up his 26-point and 13-assist effort against Kentucky with a 17-point and 9-assist game against LSU. Furthermore, Zeigler always plays relentlessly on defense. Zeigler racked up 5 steals against the Tigers and always puts whoever he is guarding in a torture chamber. The simple fact is that when Zeigler is off the floor, Tennessee almost always loses ground, and that is precisely the reason that Rick Barnes has no qualms about playing him 35-plus minutes a game. Hopefully, Zeigler doesn’t get tired legs in March because he is shoveling the coal that powers the Big Orange Locomotive right now.
Secondly, Jordan Gainey is becoming a reliable scoring option off the bench. After starting SEC play with a string of stinkers, Gainey now looks confident with his shooting stroke and poured in 18 points against the Tigers. Gainey has also stepped up his game defensively and is consistently getting steals. Gainey has always been capable of scoring 10-15 points off the bench, and now that he is fulfilling his potential, the Vols are becoming a hard team to stop on offense.
Lastly, even when the Vols don’t have every single starter contributing in the scoring department, they are still capable of beating a conference opponent by 20. Santiago Vescovi scored 2 points against the Tigers and only shot 3 times. Vescovi was one of the Vols’ go-to scoring options last year, but now with Dalton Knecht leading the Vols in scoring, he doesn’t have to be the savior every single night as he was in the past. It’s impressive that a 5th year senior like Vescovi is unselfish enough to take a step back in certain games when other players have the hot hand. However, Vescovi proved against Kentucky that he is still a solid option when the team needs it. The point is that this team is deep, this team is unselfish, and this team has a group of players who are gelling at the right time.
The Vols will travel to College Station on Saturday night to take on the Texas A&M Aggies. The Aggies are a veteran-laden team that draws a ton of fouls, and if they are getting a home whistle, this game could get very annoying for the Vols. However, if the Vols can take the offense on the road again this weekend, I don’t think the Aggies can make enough free throws to come out on top.