In its most close game of the season, Tennessee basketball went to its reliable defence, and as a result, the season will continue. It was clinical, it was oppressive, and it was ruthless.
Under coach Rick Barnes, the Vols advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third time after Saturday’s victory against the top team in his previous era. Tennessee defeated Texas at Spectrum Centre, 62–58. It will play for the programme’s second Elite Eight on Friday in Detroit against No. 3 Creighton (25-9).
The No. 2 Vols were led by a determined Dalton Knecht, who scored 18 points. In the last 24.3 seconds, the Vols (26-8) converted six free throws to secure the victory over the Longhorns (21-13), ranked seventh.
With 1:53 remaining, Hunter made another transition layup to trim the margin to two. Texas started fouling after Abmas scored a basket to trim the advantage to 56-55. After Aidoo made two crucial free throws to give the Vols a three-point lead again, Abmas missed a corner three, and Knecht was fouled. After he made both free throws, Hunter made a pull-up three-pointer to bring the score back to 60-58. Knecht returned to the line, where he struck both to end the match.
UT had a terrible shooting performance, going 3 for 25 on 3-pointers, but its renowned defence kept them in the game.
Tennessee Football advanced to the Sweet 16 by winning on defence.
The Vols were excellent on defence despite having a terrible attacking performance. They limited Texas to 36.4% overall and 30.4% from 3-point range.
Eleven of the 17 turnovers that Tennessee forced came in the first half.
Tennessee’s Tobe Awaka played just six minutes in the first half, but he made every one of them matter as the Vols dominated inside. Awaka was the offensive catalyst.
Before the half, he had eight points and four rebounds. After being flagged for two fouls in the first ten minutes, he was flagged for a third at 5:46 when Barnes substituted the sophomore forward. For the second half, he returned and continued. In 11 minutes, he ended with 10 points and 5 rebounds.
UT scored 36 points in the paint, with Awaka setting the tone.
two complimentary tosses.
At 5:39, Knecht made his first 3-pointer, putting UT ahead 50–42.
James stated, “The fact that we were able to win this game shows a lot.” “These first two games were different from each other, and I think our coaches did a great job preparing us.” Although the coach often tells us to rely on our defence, we did just that to win tonight. We did not anticipate shooting this poorly.