INDIANAPOLIS — Zakai Zeigler’s size, or lack thereof, is striking in person. Tennessee’s 5-9 point guard is tiny in a land of giants. But on a night when the Vols clearly wanted to play the bully, the little guy led the charge.
There was Zeigler, delivering the knockout blow with a steal and a 3, cocking his head back to stare straight up at Kentucky’s 6-foot-10 Brandon Garrison, letting him know the toughest team won on Friday night in the Sweet 16. Tennessee avenged a regular-season sweep by the Wildcats with a 78-65 win to get back to the Elite Eight for the second straight season.
The Vols used their speed and strength to control the game from the opening tip. The Wildcats had made 12 of 24 3-point attempts in both regular-season meetings and operated with way more ease than is typical against one of the best defenses in the country. This time, Rick Barnes’ team had a clear plan to try to take away shooters and cutters, pressing up against the Cats on the perimeter and having someone to meet them at the rim on drives. Kentucky wasn’t able to get many clean 3-point looks — the No. 3 seed finished 6 of 15 from 3, a season-low in attempts — and rarely was able to find cutters.
Tennessee led 43-28 at half, and although Kentucky’s offense started to come alive in the second half, the Wildcats could never get enough stops.
The narrative has been that Tennessee is all defense, but this year’s team has produced the second-best offense of Barnes’ 10 seasons in Knoxville, and the Vols have been hot since a Feb. 11 loss to Kentucky.
On Friday night, Tennessee continuously picked on UK’s weaker perimeter defenders, running floppy action over and over to get Chaz Lanier (17 points) and Jordan Gainey (16 points) free, or setting up Zeigler with a ball screen, or just giving him space and letting him drive. Zeigler controlled the game, finishing with 18 points and 10 assists. While the Vols didn’t make many 3s either (5 of 19), Lanier and Gainey got to their spots in the midrange, and when they missed, their teammates dominated the glass, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds.
It was the same theme all night: One team was too strong, too quick to the ball.
The Elite Eight appearance is just the third in school history for the Vols, and they will try to make the program’s first Final Four ever on Sunday against the winner of Houston-Purdue.
(Photo: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)