Tennessee basketball jumped out to a 15-1 lead on Wednesday night and despite a poor stretch of play in the second half, posted an 88-68 win over LSU at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
The Vols got strong production from its backcourt against the Tigers. Zakai Zeigler was fantastic again, totaling 17 points, nine assists and five steals in the win. Jordan Gainey came off the bench and sparked the Vols with two quick steals before totaling a season-high 18 points on six-of-nine shooting from the field.
Dalton Knecht did his thing on the offensive end, scoring a game-high 27 points. But Knecht turned in a complete performance against LSU, totaling seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks to go along with another big scoring performance.
Following the game, LSU head coach Matt McMahon met with the media and discussed the game and Tennessee’s strong play. Here’s what he said.
More From RTI: How An April One-on-One Game Was The First Sign Of Dalton Knecht’s Offensive Brilliance
On Zakai Zeigler being the reason for Tennessee’s fast start to the game
“Yeah, well he is a terrific point guard. We all know the importance and value of elite point-guard play. You saw how he played Saturday in Lexington. Really carried that over tonight. We were late on some closeouts to him and he hit some big threes. Just does a great job of organizing their team and getting the ball where it needs to go. And then when he is shooting it well from three, it makes him a really difficult cover because of his speed and quickness off the bounce.”
On the message at halftime after LSU trailed 50-27
“I think we needed to try to get back to doing a better job of following our best plan of attack, which would be to have better ball security on offense. Do a better job executing on the offensive end. And then on defense, they just put so much pressure on you in transition and we did a poor job getting back and getting our defense set and they made us pay every single time. And then the three that they stepped up and knocked down a lot of open shots.
But if you look at Tennessee, the games they won, I think they average 19 assists a game and (in) their losses they’re around 10. When the ball moves, they’re I think one of the best teams in the country in their movement (and) screening off the ball. College basketball has become so centered on the ball screen. I think Tennessee’s unique and their ability to move without the basketball and set off ball screens and really do a great job.”
On the message at halftime after LSU trailed Tennessee 50-27
“I think we needed to try to get back to doing a better job of following our best plan of attack, which would be to have better ball security on offense. Do a better job executing on the offensive end. And then on defense, they just put so much pressure on you in transition and we did a poor job getting back and getting our defense set and they made us pay every single time. And then the three that they stepped up and knocked down a lot of open shots.
But if you look at Tennessee, the games they won, I think they average 19 assists a game and (in) their losses they’re around 10. When the ball moves, they’re I think one of the best teams in the country in their movement (and) screening off the ball. College basketball has become so centered on the ball screen. I think Tennessee’s unique and their ability to move without the basketball and set off ball screens and really do a great job.”
On what LSU’s plan for Dalton Knecht was
“I think it’s important to note that they have really good players around Knecht. They’ve got some guys who are more experienced than NBA starting fives. So I think it’s obvious he’s turned himself into a top-10 NBA pick, but if you spend all your time locked in on him, Ziegler and (Josiah-Jordan) James go for 52 like they did on Saturday. So because of their balance, because they’re really good on the defensive end and so explosive offensively this year, it’s a tough cover. So the goal is just to make them work and try and make his shots as difficult as possible.”
