The Volunteers didn’t exactly achieve greatness at Texas but they played with the heart of champions.
Tennessee endured 15 turnovers and failed to stop a freshman shooter.
It recovered from the embarrassment at Florida and won the backboard battle.
It excelled in the clutch and restored order in the Southeastern Conference chase with a hard-earned 74-70 victory over the Longhorns.
Nobody ever said life on the road would be easy. The Vols met the challenge with toughness. Their record is 15-1 and 2-1 in the league.
“It was a hard game,” said Rick Barnes. “Any time you go on the road, it’s hard. You play at home, it’s hard. Coming off that loss the other night, I really appreciate the way they kept their focus, went about their preparation the way we try to do things.”
Darlinstone Dubar, 6-6 guard from everywhere, had his best game for Tennessee and provided a tremendous spark – 12 points, three threes and two decisive plays that left the home folk shaking their heads. He missed only two shots.
“Huge” was Barnes’s concise description of Dubar’s performance. “He was really locked in and did a lot of great things.”
Zakai Zeigler fought through intense defensive pressure and delivered the winning edge, six consecutive points in the final 80 seconds. He beat the shot clock by a whisker on a daring layup and nailed four free throws when they really mattered.
Felix Okpara scored seven points, seized nine rebounds, blocked three shots and took title to a sizeable segment of the lane.
Jordan Gainey produced 12 points, including a big three. Igor Milicic scored seven and pulled six rebounds. Chaz Lanier did not shoot well but contributed 10 points.
The best scorer in the game was Texas freshman Tre Johnson. He had 26. The Vols couldn’t handle him – until they did. Tre got one goal in the final 11:32.
Barnes reaction: “We just fought as hard as we could, that’s all I could say. He’s a terrific player and he’s tough guy to guard.”
The coach said he has great respect for Tre. Barnes has really great respect for Ziggy.
“He’s fearless … He didn’t want to come out of the Florida game … he said ‘Coach, I’m not quitting.’
“He just wants to get it right all the time … it’s in his DNA, it’s who he is, it’s how he grew up. I actually talked to the team about it. I said there’s nobody in this room that grew up the way Zakai Ziegler did. Nobody. And that fight in him, I wish I could bottle it. I do.”
Dubar showed some fight. He undoubtedly earned more minutes. He was outstanding and dramatic.
With six minutes or so to go, he came storming down the lane, grabbed a rebound and slammed down a two-handed dunk to tie the game at 56. It was a stunning play. Texas called time out.
He hurt the Longhorns again a few plays later, a contested three that put Tennessee up 61-60. The Vols never lost that lead.
“The better he plays, the more he gets out there and can do that,” said Barnes.
The coach said he was proud.
“He just played with a force that we need him to have … he can really shoot the ball … he’s not afraid … I hope this will be a way that he can say, hey, you know, I can even get it to another level.”
Darlinstone is from everywhere? He was born in Charlotte, played at Rocky River High, went to a prep academy in Athens, Tennessee, did a post-grad year at Scotland, Pennsylvania, made seven starts as a freshman at Iowa State, transferred to Hofstra, transferred to Tennessee.
What he did at Texas will get a few lines in his memory book.
Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com.
Contrary to our Volunteer tradition, our current edition did not travel down and all die at the Alamo. We won a few battles, but more important we won the war. Never giving up is sometimes the answer. A win is a win and 15-1 still sounds good.