Cheers, cheers for the Volunteers, now 26-5 and looking maybe tough enough. They are in the Saturday semifinals of the SEC tournament – against Auburn, 1 p.m., ESPN, Bridgestone Arena, downtown Nashville.
Tennessee defeated Texas, 83-72, on Friday. It was an all-business performance with co-chairs. Chaz Lanier scored 19 in the first half. Zakai Zeigler, scoreless in the first segment, had 19 after intermission.
The Vol defense, featuring Jahmai Mashack, was fiercely determined. It seemed to eventually wear down the Longhorns. That made sense. Texas had a rugged Wednesday game against Vanderbilt. Texas upset Texas A&M on Thursday in two overtimes. Tennessee, meanwhile, was practicing lightly and resting comfortably with two byes, the reward for a superior season.
Rick Barnes touched all the bases. He said he was proud of his guys.
“Overall good team win for us. It was hard-fought.”
He said he has utmost respect for Texas and coach Rodney Terry (his former assistant). Barnes said Texas definitely belongs in the NCAA field.
“They came in here in a very tough situation.”
Barnes said Shack set a great tone defensively, guarding Longhorn shooting star Tre Johnson.
The coach had a salute for Lanier. He scored 14 of Tennessee’s first 17 points.
“Chaz got us going.”
Barnes spoke warmly of Bruce Pearl, recognized the Tigers’ remarkable season and said what it will take for Tennessee to win.
“You only lose two games in this league, the way it’s played out from start to finish … It will just take a gigantic effort with everybody, like Zakai said, being locked in. They’ve got a 10-deep team, experienced, a team that’s been here and won it … they have the player of the year in Johni Broome … we’ll have to be on top of our game.”
The first half was intriguing. Texas hit 57 percent but Tennessee was up 41-38 at the rest stop. Lanier was hot. He made eight of 11 shots. He scored 17 in the first nine minutes but took only one shot in the next nine.
Chaz Lanier #2 led the Vols’ scoring against Texas with 23.
Mashack’s primary assignment was to slow Johnson, SEC leader, 20.2 points per game, highest scoring freshman in the country. Shack did it. The young Longhorn got a two and a three. Shack was everywhere. He scored eight points and had four rebounds and four assists.
The second half was different. Tennessee was better on defense. Ziggy suddenly took over the attack. His steal and go made it 55-45 with 13:47 remaining. His free throw (he hit one now and then) built the gap to 15.
Tennessee didn’t close smoothly. Texas reduced the deficit to seven. Late fouls allowed the Vols to pull the betting line.
Coach Terry saw the same game I saw.
“I thought in the second half Tennessee guarded really hard. Their defense was tough to go against all game. When you have two of the top defenders in all of college basketball, Mashack and Zeigler, you talk about disrupting the game, causing all kinds of problems on both ends of the floor.”
Terry said the two guards “make it extremely difficult to run your offense. If you let ’em play a little bit the way they played today, having hands on you, it’s even tougher to get around them.
Felix Okpara #34 is tough to guard.
“You’ve got to be somewhere where the whistle is going to blow a little bit quicker to get them to back off. They’re aggressive defenders.”
When it comes to Ziggy, SEC defensive player of the year, Terry said enough is enough.
“We’ve been going against Zeigler every year he’s been in college. We’re happy to see him graduate.”
So, Coach, how about physical and mental fatigue?
“We don’t make any excuses. This time of year, you lace ‘em up and you’re ready to go anytime you have a scoreboard … I have some competitors in that locker room … it’s about winning or losing, doesn’t matter if they’re tired or not, they’re going to go full tilt.”
Tennessee finished with a better shooting percentage, 50 to 46.3. Both teams hit only 25 percent of threes. Tennessee missed 11 free throws. Tennessee dominated in rebounding, 41-29. Mashack and Igor Milicic got seven each and Cade Phillips had six.
Lanier led with 23 points. Mashack outscored Johnson, 13-11.
Ziggy had six assists and now has a record 230 for the season. Rodney Woods set the record at 227 in 26 games in 1975. Ziggy has 706 for his career. Johnny Darden holds that record at 715.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey (center) recognizes color analyst Bert Bertelkamp (left) and director of broadcasting Bob Kesling during the quarterfinal game of the 2025 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Both are retiring following the season.
Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com
