INDIANAPOLIS — Zakai Zeigler burst into the lane, jump stopped and turned to fire a pass back to the perimeter. Igor Milicic and Felix Okpara lay on the ground behind him after tripping over one another. It was that type of afternoon for Tennessee as Houston coasted past the Vols 69-50 in the Elite Eight.
Here’s three quick takeaways on a disappointing end to the season for Tennessee.
Houston Dominates From The Very Start
It would have been difficult to script much worse of a start for Tennessee. Chaz Lanier airballed a midrange jumper on the game’s first possession and Houston scored on a put back on its first possession.
The Vols’ offense was dreadful out the gates, making just one of their first 12 shots from the field and missing their first 14 three-point attempts. Houston’s defense had much to do with Tennessee’s offensive troubles especially in the first four minutes when the Vols turned it over twice and struggled to create any open looks.
Getting stops early in the game was also a major challenge for Tennessee. The Vols weren’t bad defensively but they weren’t as crisp as they needed to be. Houston was able to get good looks at the rim and scored on second chance opportunities when they missed the first look.
Houston led 4-0, 9-2 and 17-4 in the game’s first nine minutes. The Cougars jumped on Tennessee from the game’s offset and never looked back.
Vols’ Offense Dreadful
This Tennessee team hasn’t been perfect offensively all season but they had largely avoided the scoring droughts that plagued previous Tennessee teams. But with a trip to the Final Four on the line, Tennessee’s offense turned in its worst performance of the season.
The Cougars stifled driving lanes and made it very difficult for either Zakai Zeigler or Jordan Gainey to get anything going to the basket. The vast majority of Tennessee’s interior points came on second chance opportunities around the rim.
Houston forced Tennessee into a number of difficult shots from the perimeter but when the Vols did get open looks they simply weren’t able to knock them down. The Vols finished the game shooting five-of-29 from three-point range.
The matchup was going to be a battle of the backcourts and Tennessee’s backcourt, which had played so well to get the Vols to this point, couldn’t get anything going. Houston’s length gave Zakai Zeigler issues as the star point guard scored just five points on one-of-nine shooting while totaling four assists.
Chaz Lanier could never get going from deep. He made just two-of-11 attempts from three-point range on his way to just 17 points. On one stretch in the first half, Lanier had open triples on three straight possessions but couldn’t get any to drop. Jordan Gainey was the outlier of the group, going for 17 points and trying to spark a second half comeback with 13 points there.
Against Houston’s stout defense, Tennessee needed from production from all three backcourt scorers. They didn’t get it.
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Tennessee’s Defense Loses In The Margin
Tennessee did some good things defensively against Houston, they held the Cougars to 42% shooting from the field and 36% from three-point range. That on its own was good enough to give Tennessee a chance to win.
But it was the other areas defensively where Tennessee struggled. The Vols failed to keep Houston off of the offensive glass. The Cougars grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, 37% of their misses and did a strong job of turning it into points.
Tennessee did some good things on the offensive glass too but they weren’t nearly as effective as Houston at converting them into points. The Cougars totaled 19 second chance points to Tennessee’s eight second chance points.
Houston also did a really impressive job taking care of the basketball. They turned it over just five times against Tennessee’s ball pressure. As the Vols played better in the second half and tried to mount a comeback, Houston’s ability to take care of the basketball and not give Tennessee anything easy was crucial to holding off any serious comeback effort.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee basketball’s season comes to a close one game short of the Final Four for the second straight season. Rick Barnes and his staff now get to work constructing a roster for next season.
