NCAA Tournament: Tennessee advances to the Sweet 16
The Tennessee Basketball Volunteers advanced to the Sweet 16 after a dogfight with the Texas Longhorns. In a game where Tennessee went 3-25 from 3-point range, and 22-65 overall they still found a way to pull out the win. With the win last night Tennessee became the first team in NCAA Tournament history to win a game shooting under 15% from three and under 35% overall. I can’t stress enough how impressive it is that Rick Barnes and his players won that game with those shooting numbers. That type of shooting performance has sent Tennessee home in the last two tournaments, but these Vols might be built differently. The resilience of Tennessee through bad shooting is obviously the story of the game, but what else can we take away from their round of 32 win?
Tobe Awaka needs to stay out of foul trouble
Early in the game, Tobe Awaka was thoroughly outclassing the Texas Frountcourt. However, foul trouble plagued Awaka in the first half as he went to the locker room already having picked up 3 fouls. Awaka then picked up a foul with 10 minutes left to play and didn’t see the floor again. Tennessee’s biggest advantage last night was in the paint, but when Awaka got into foul trouble that advantage was cut in half. Awaka is too good of a player to be picking up silly fouls, and if the Vols want to continue a potential run to the Final 4 they will need him for more than 11 minutes.
Zakai Zeigler is not real
Zakai Zeigler played every single second of the game last night. While Zeigler didn’t have his best game shooting, (nobody did) he did play nails defense throughout the game. Zeigler picked up 3 steals and put pressure on whoever he guarded all night. Furthermore, when the Vols needed big buckets, he facilitated the ball well down the stretch. Rick Barnes even said after the game that he doesn’t take Zeigler out unless he asks him. That shows how much trust he has in his junior point guard. If Zeigler continues to play this well on defense and his shooting comes back around it will be very hard to beat Tennessee.
Dalton Knecht has ice in his veins
If you watched the game you saw how much Dalton Knecht was struggling. Knecht ended the game 5-18 from the floor and only had 18 points. However, when Tennessee needed to hit free throws in the final minute Knecht wanted the ball in his hands. Knecht made 4 free throws in the final 10 seconds, but what makes it even more impressive is that they were 1 and 1’s. Knecht iced the game even with the pressure of having to convert the first free throw to even attempt the second one. At the end of the day, who else would you want at the line in that spot? Even with Knecht’s struggles from the floor during the game I still knew he was converting when we needed it most.
Tennessee clinched their second straight appearance in the Sweet 16, which is an underrated accomplishment. Winning 2 games in 3 days on neutral courts against teams you haven’t seen yet is never easy. Tennessee now has nearly a week to prepare for their matchup with Creighton in Detroit, and with all that time to prepare coming off a terrible shooting performance I think the Vols will be favored.