A spectacular Sweet 16 matchup.
Tennessee-Kentucky, round three — in the NCAA Tournament. It would be difficult to script a better Sweet 16 matchup. The Volunteers and Wildcats will be meeting for the first time ever in the NCAA Tournament with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
For Rick Barnes, it’s perhaps one of his final true shots to get Tennessee to its first ever Final Four or even further. By now you know the narrative here about Barnes in March. This group led by four-year players Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack reversing that narrative would be extremely fitting.
For Mark Pope, it’s the first attempt at an Elite Eight of what he hopes to be several down the line.
How did we get here?
Following losses in the SEC Tournament, both Tennessee and Kentucky landed in the Midwest Region. Tennessee narrowly missed out on a No. 1 seed, while Kentucky was able to grab the No. 3 seed.
Both sides handled their first round matchups, with Kentucky beating Troy by 19 and Tennessee beating Wofford by 15.
The Volunteers moved on to beat UCLA, taking control late in the first half. Tennessee would control the entire second half, in particular winning the rebounding battle by ten. Chaz Lanier put up his second 20 point game of the tournament.
Kentucky beat Illinois 84-75, getting 23 points from Kobe Brea. The Wildcats forced 14 turnovers, which really ended up being the difference.
What happened in Tennessee’s two losses to Kentucky?
To sum it up in a simple sentence, Kentucky’s high-powered offense performed at optimal levels in both meetings. Tennessee’s top-ranked defense was beaten by elite three-point shooting, with Kentucky hitting 12-24 shots from deep in both meetings. Making matters worse? Tennessee got some of their worst shooting games all season long from Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler.
In the first game, shorthanded Kentucky got ten combined three-pointers from Ansley Almonor, Jaxson Robinson and Kobe Brea. The trio shot a combined 11-16 from deep, while Lanier and Zeigler combined to go 4-21.
Tennessee shot a whopping 45 three-pointers in that first meeting in Knoxville, connecting on just 11 of them. There’s your difference, with most everything else being even on the stat sheet.
The second meeting was a little different. Tennessee dialed back their volume from long range, but still only made 3-18 from deep. Kentucky once again hit 50 percent of their attempts, going 12-24 again from three.
Late in that second meeting though, it was Kentucky’s ability to get downhill that hurt the Volunteers. No field goals from Tennessee in the final four minutes didn’t help either.
“(Kentucky) is going to shoot enough threes,” Rick Barnes said back in February. “And, again, the threes didn’t beat us. I’m going to tell you, I’ve played in games where we won games when guys have made 20 threes. It’s the other penetration. You let their big come in and pack the game in a big way. That can’t happen. But it did.”
A healthy Lamont Butler
Lamont Butler is back and healthier than he was in the second matchup against Tennessee. He did not play in the first meeting in Knoxville. Butler handed 22 minutes and made a minimal impact in the game in Lexington.
Butler didn’t score against Troy, but came back to add 14 against Illinois. It was a super efficient game for him, shooting 4-5 from the floor and 2-3 from three. He added five assists on top of that.
The senior transfer from San Diego State will play a big role in the outcome on Friday night.
“He’s a terrific player,” Rick Barnes said of Butler. “I love the way he plays. And he’s obviously been there before. He knows what it’s like this time of year to play basketball. But he brings a really good defensive element to them and he knows what he’s doing on the offensive end. Physicality. He brings physicality.”
Kentucky is 9-1 in the last ten games that Butler has appeared in.
What are the odds?
Tennessee remains a 4.5 point favorite as of Wednesday, per FanDuel Sportsbook. The Volunteers are 15-15-1 against the spread this season. The Wildcats are 16-14-1 against the number.
KenPom ranks Tennessee at No. 5, while Kentucky checks in at 15th. Tennessee still holds the No. 3 spot in adjusted defensive efficiency, while Kentucky is credited with the 11th best offense.
How to watch
Tennessee and Kentucky will meet in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, with the court set up in the endzone. The game is set for Friday night with a tip-off scheduled for 7:39 p.m. ET. TBS will have the call. NCAA.com will stream the game live.