Tennessee basketball’s Elite Eight matchup against Houston will tip off at 2:20 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and Evan Washburn are on the call for CBS.
The Vols are back in the Elite Eight for the second straight season after rolling past Kentucky 78-65 on Friday night. Tennessee jumped out to a 17-7 lead against the Wildcats and really never looked back. Once Tennessee took a 25-25 lead with 8:54 to play in the first half, the Wildcats never got the deficit back to single digits.
Tennessee’s backcourt trio of Zakai Zeigler, Chaz Lanier and Jordan Gainey were once again fantastic on the offensive end. Zeigler went for a game-high 18 points while dishing out 10 assists. Lanier added 17 points despite a cold three-point shooting night while Gainey added 16 points off the bench.
But the story of the game was what Tennessee did on the defensive end. Kentucky torched the Vols from three-point range in each of the two regular season meetings. The Wildcats still shot 40% from deep in the third meeting but they only attempted 15 three-pointer because of the Vols’ strong perimeter defense.
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Rick Barnes’ 10th Tennessee team was more physical than its border rival, out-rebounding the Wildcats 34-24 and winning the turnover battle 12-8.
Houston advanced to the Elite Eight for the third time in five years by knocked off Purdue 62-60 in the Sweet 16 on Friday night. The Cougars got an open dunk with less than three seconds to play to earn the narrow victory over the Boilermakers.
Tennessee is looking to make its first ever Final Four appearance with a win over Houston. The Vols have made the Elite Eight just twice previously in school history, falling to Michigan State in 2010 and Purdue last season. Over the last three years, Tennessee has three trips to the Sweet 16 and two additional trips to the Elite Eight.
The Cougars have made the Final Four six times in program history including in 2021 under head coach Kelvin Sampson.
The Vols matchup against Houston/Purdue is the first game of a doubleheader on CBS. Auburn will take on Michigan State in the South Region Final at 5:05 p.m. ET on CBS.
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GO VOLS!
