LEXINGTON, Ky. — No. 5 Tennessee jumped out to an early lead, withstood a number of ferocious Wildcat runs and knocked off No. 10 Kentucky 103-92 at Rupp Arena on Saturday night.
Veteran leaders Zakai Zeigler, Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James were brilliant on a rare night where Dalton Knecht struggled.
Here’s three quick takeaways.
The Zakai Zeigler Bounce Back
Rick Barnes told the media Friday that there was no one he had more confidence in to bounce back from a poor performance than Zakai Zeigler.
Zeigler drilled a three on the game’s opening possession and was off-and-running from there. The Tennessee point guard was fantastic at Rupp Arena and particularly in the first half when he made all five shots he attempted to post 13 points and four assists.
In fact, the only thing that stopped Zeigler in the first half was foul trouble. His second foul came at the 5:14 mark in the first half when he ripped the ball away from Antonio Reeves in transition. The call was questionable and led Rick Barnes to erupt on Doug Shows.
Zeigler’s impact was on the defensive end of the court where he made star Kentucky point guard Reed Sheppard extremely uncomfortable and forced a handful of careless turnovers.
The junior point guard had the best game of his career, totaling 26 points on eight-of-11 shooting from the field to go along with 13 assists to just two turnovers.
Guys Step Up For Tennessee Besides Dalton Knecht
Tennessee scored 103 points in the rivalry showdown and did it with just 16 points (four on late game free throws) from star guard Dalton Knecht. That statement would have sounded crazy before the game.
But the Vols got contributions across the board and particularly from their veteran guards and wings. We already discussed Zeigler’s big night but he wasn’t the only guy who stepped up.
Josiah-Jordan James broke out of his massive slump by totaling a career-high 26 points on nine-of-18 shooting from the field. James entered the matchup with just one made triple in SEC play. He hit four against the Wildcats.
Santiago Vescovi wasn’t spectacular but he was just steadily solid, knocking down three triples on his way to a 11 point night.
Tennessee’s big scoring night becomes even more improbable due to the fact that Jonas Aidoo did not have a big night offensively and none of the Vols’ front court members gave them a huge offensive boost.
But a number of Tennessee players gave the Vols some level of offensive contribution with five guys scoring in double-figures
Kentucky Awoke Tobe Awaka
Like Josiah-Jordan James, Tobe Awaka entered Saturday night’s showdown in Rupp Arena struggling. The game continued the same way when he picked up two quick fouls and played just two minutes in the first half.
But with Aidoo struggling early in the second half, Rick Barnes turned to Awaka again. The sophomore power forward made his mark by grabbing a couple offensive rebounds. When he grabbed his third in a number of minutes one of the game’s turning points happened.
Rob Dillingham fouled Awaka and got in one extra shove after the whistle. Awaka got in the guard’s face and then Aaron Bradshaw pushed him from behind. That unleashed a Tobe Awaka I’ve never seen. I’ll let the video explain it.
Don’t mess with Tobe Awaka. #Vols pic.twitter.com/oma03wI7ie
— Reece Van Haaften (@Reece_VH) February 4, 2024
Awaka walked back to the Tennessee bench as the officials went to the monitor to figure everything out. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Vol player get more high-fives on the bench when he got there.
Tennessee immediately came out of the long media review on a run and Awaka was a big part of it. The sophomore big man grabbed more tough rebounds on both ends of the court, threw down a tough dunk and had another basket at the rim.
Awaka finished the night with a loud four points and six rebounds.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee returns to Knoxville on Wednesday night when they’ll host LSU at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Tipoff between the Vols and Tigers is at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
