CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jahmai Mashack grabbed an offensive rebound with just over 10 minutes remaining leading to a Dalton Knecht layup. Mashack had a wild smile on his face as he picked up Texas guard Max Abmas full court.
It was Jahmai Mashack’s type of game. That is to say a defensive game.
The Vols shot as poorly from the perimeter as they have all season but leaned on defense and toughness to defeat Texas 62-58 to advance to the Sweet 16.
Tennessee Does It With Defense
Tennessee basketball got it done the Volunteer way. They did it with defense.
The Vols came out as cold as possible offensively. Jonas Aidoo missed a pair of bunnies in the game’s opening minutes and Tennessee couldn’t hit a perimeter jumper, missing its first 12 three-point attempts before Zakai Zeigler hit a corner three-pointer late in the first half.
But as the Vols’ offense struggled, they remained stout on the defensive end of the court. Tennessee was completely locked in from the jump and made everything extremely difficult for the Longhorns.
Texas rarely got an open look from the perimeter or any look near the basket. The Longhorns shooting percentages showed it as they shot 36% from the field, 30% from three-point range and totaled just .853 points per possession.
Rick Barnes’ team did a brilliant job on Texas’ top offensive players. Santiago Vescovi and Jahmai Mashack chased Max Abmas around all night as he scored 10 points on 30% shooting from the field and turned it over four times. Zakai Zeigler, who played all 40 minutes, chased Tyrese Hunter around and held him to 13 points while he turned it over six times.
Josiah-Jordan James defended power forward Dylan Disu while Jonas Aidoo waited for him at the basket. They made life difficult for him as he scored 12 points on four-of-18 shooting.
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Tennessee Role Players Step Up
No Tennessee role player was spectacular against the longhorns. But a number of them stepped up and were solid which was huge on a night where its stars weren’t great.
Okay maybe Tobe Awaka wasn’t spectacular but he was very very good, and he did it all while battling foul trouble. After Aidoo struggled offensively early, Tennessee turned to Awaka and the sophomore big man delivered on the offensive end.
Awaka picked up three fouls in just six minutes in the first half but scored eight points on three-of-four shooting from the field. The 6-foot-9 forward came up huge for Tennessee as he finished the night with 10 points and five rebounds.
But he wasn’t the only role player who made big plays. Jordan Gainey had a steal and transition layup on his way to four points while playing strong defense.
Josiah-Jordan James was fantastic defending Disu, grabbed nine rebounds and while he wasn’t great offensively he totaled nine points including a huge three-pointer in the game’s final minutes.
Vols Dominate The Rebounding And Turnover Margin
Tennessee’s defense wasn’t the only reason it was able to win on an afternoon that they shot three-of-25 from three-point range. The Vols made the tough plays throughout the game and dominated the rebounding and turnover margin.
The Vols’ ball pressure gave Texas all sorts of issues throughout the game as the Longhorns turned it over 17 times throughout the game. Tennessee wasn’t at its best taking care of the basketball but only turned it over 12 times.
Texas’ turnovers were huge but so was the success that Tennessee had on the offensive glass. The Vols grabbed 14 offensive rebounds compared to Texas’ seven and totaled 12 second chance points.
As a whole, the Vols out rebounded Texas 42-36 but the numbers don’t tell the entire story since Tennessee missed eight more shots than the Longhorns.
It wasn’t pretty for Tennessee, but they did it with toughness against Texas.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee advances to the Sweet 16 where they’ll face the winner of three-seed Creighton versus 10-seed Oregon on Friday night in Detroit. The tipoff time has yet to be announced.
