Vols outmuscle Longhorns
Texas interim coach Rodney Terry was eager to see how his team stacked up against Tennessee, a program he praised as “Final Four good' heading into Saturday night's tilt at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The fourth-ranked Volunteers seemed like a group designed to give the 10th-ranked Longhorns fits. They dictate the tempo to their liking, take the air out of other team's tires, limit transition opportunities and maintain a methodical pace. They're big and long and mean, a group constructed of rebound-eaters and ballsnatchers who bludgeon opponents early and pile on late.
What Terry witnessed Saturday night in Knoxville, Tenn., should only reaffirm his belief that Tennessee could be among the last four teams standing in Houston come April. The Vols (18-3) beat Texas (17-4) 82-71 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, securing revenge for last season's onepoint loss in Austin and stamping a significant non-conference win onto its first-rate resume.
“They set the tone early,” Terry said during a postgame interview on the Longhorn Radio Network. “They were physical on the interior, in particular on the glass. Then on the offensive end down there, they were really physical against us. Any kind of movement they were chucking us or grabbing us, but we knew that coming in. Tonight they got the best of us in that regard.”
The matchup between two self-styled national championship contenders with divergent philosophies, led by a pair of head coaches who formerly spent almost a decade working together in Austin, was presented as the main event of Saturday's 10-game slate pitting the Big 12 versus the SEC.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes spent 17 seasons at Texas, winning 402 games as its head coach, 232 with Terry as his assistant from 2002-11. Terry was named acting head coach at Texas on Dec. 12, hours after coach Chris Beard was arrested, suspended and ultimately fired nearly a month after being charged with felony domestic violence.
Texas had been sailing along just fine under Terry prior to this trip to Tennessee, posting a 10-2 record and climbing into a threeway tie atop the Big 12 standings. But the Vols were better equipped to exploit the Longhorns' weaknesses and slow their uptempo attack than those foes Terry game planned against during his first dozen games in charge.
No one expected a work of art — the way Tennessee operates typically doesn't lend itself to offensive fireworks. That wasn't the case Saturday as it shot a blistering 55 percent from the field with 40 points in the paint and 15 secondchance points.
But early on, the Vols played a particularly brutal brand of ball, outmuscling Texas in the post and capitalizing on a slew of offensive rebounds.
Aside from graduate guard Sir'Jabari Rice, who provided a first-half spark with 11 points, Texas looked overwhelmed by Tennessee's tenacity. The Vols held Texas to 40 percent shooting and won the rebounding battle by eight to build a 40-28 halftime lead that felt even larger than the scoreboard indicated.
The other pressing issue for Texas, even when it found some scoring pockets during a plucky second-half performance, was the Vols' ability to score without expending too much energy. Meanwhile, the Longhorns strained for nearly every point in their failed comeback bid.
Vols guard Zakai Zeigler vacillated between set-up man and assassin. He spearheaded the attack, scurrying around Texas' bigger guards, shooting over the top of the defense, wreaking havoc at all three levels. He finished with 22 points on 7 of 10 with 10 assists and two steals.
Senior forward Oliier Nkamhoua was the other half of Tennessee's 1-2 punch. He erupted for 27 points, eight rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes of action. His presence on the glass helped Tennessee finish with a plus-15 rebounding edge.
“They got us on the glass and pounded the ball inside,” Terry said. “We knew that's what they really kind of want to do and we didn't meet that challenge tonight. Even when our big guys did block out our guards didn't come down and rebound.”
Tennessee has defanged formidable offenses one after another this season. Texas, which entered Saturday's matchup averaging 80.5 points per game, was just the latest victim.
“We played the best team in the SEC on their homecourt and a team that has a chance to be a Final Four team,” Terry said.