Tennessee point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie is a man of few words. He didn’t need many to perfectly sum up the Vols’ effort in an impressive 83-62 win over Louisville on Tuesday night.
“We just want to play how Tennessee usually plays,” Gillespie said. “Tennessee basketball, just being dawgs on defense.”
Play like dawgs? Gillespie and his teammates did just that. Play how Tennessee traditionally plays? This new look Tennessee team put together a vintage Volunteer defensive performance, suffocating one of the nation’s top offenses.
“Tough, physical team,” Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey said. “Coach Barnes’ teams are always that way. … There were times when they muddy you up with their physicality and those type things and then it kind of caused us to stop moving, not get into actions and then we got a little bit stagnant.”
Louisville entered the matchup ranked second nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency. The Cardinals did it while playing at a fast pace, averaging 94 points per game while scoring less than 80 points just once in their first 10 games.
Tennessee shut down the Cardinals’ high-powered offense, holding them to 62 points and 0.925 points per possession. Kelsey’s Louisville teams have scored 62 or fewer points just three times in his 46 games as head coach. Two of those performances came against Tennessee.
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The Vols have earned a reputation as an elite defensive team and last year’s squad was just that. Through the season’s first 10 games, Tennessee was not that. A good defensive team? Certainly. But one of the nation’s five best like they’ve routinely been? Nope.
“I really felt we were locked in maybe as well defensively as we’ve been all year against a (good) team,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “Just really proud of the focus of our guys coming in.”
Tennessee had struggled to stay in front of the ball against quality competition this season. Even with star point guard Mikel Brown sidelined, Louisville boasts one of the nation’s best backcourts. Tennessee stifled the Cardinals’ guards, forcing 16 turnovers against a team that entered the game with the nation’s 44th best turnover rate.
When Louisville’s guards were able to beat Volunteer defenders off the dribble, senior center Felix Okpara was waiting on them. Okpara bounced back from a rough couple games and was a force defensively, blocking three shots and recording three steals.
“We tell him we think he’s the best overall defensive player in the country when he really is locked in like that,” Barnes said. “When he’s locked in, he gives us something that everybody would like to have. And he’s at his best when he’s playing that way.”
Tennessee needs consistency from Okpara. The loss of Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack means the Vols’ perimeter defense just isn’t going to be as stout. Okpara being the defensive anchor inside is critical for Tennessee’s defense to remain as one of the nation’s elite— especially with Cade Phillips out for the year.
The Vols weren’t perfect against Louisville. But 21 days and three losses removed from their last victory, Tennessee quieted the qualms about this year’s team and added a second marquee win to its non conference resume. They used the old school Tennessee recipe.
