LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Zakai Zeigler went right to the hoop to score off a ball screen leading to Louisville coach Pat Kelsey taking his second timeout in just over three minutes. Jahmai Mashack’s roaring “let’s go” was easily heard in a silent KFC Yum! Center.
No. 12 Tennessee basketball went on the road and dominated upstart Louisville 77-55 in its first test of the 2024-25 season.
Here’s three quick takeaways.
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Tennessee Comes Out And Punches Louisville In The Mouth
After two horrible years, the KFC Yum! Center came out incredibly juiced for the first big game of the Pat Kelsey era. But a new look Tennessee team came out and answered the bell by coming out red-hot and punching Louisville in the mouth to start the game.
The Vols’ defense harassed Louisville from the jump, forcing turnovers on the first three possessions of the game. Tennessee opened the game with a 10-0 kill shot before Louisville got on the board and that theme continued for much of the first half.
Tennessee pushed its lead all the way to 29-13 and then 38-16 with just over three minutes to play before Louisville finally answered the bell with a 10-0 run to cut the lead to two points. That’s when Jordan Gainey hit a massive midrange jumper to end the half, helping stymie the Cardinals momentum.
The Vols played great defense and did a good job of getting and making good looks. Their only major issue came when they turned it over, more on that in a bit, and that did happen a good bit.
In the process, Tennessee quieted a rowdy crowd and took control of the game in the first 20 minutes.
Zakai Zeigler Was A Turnover Machine
Perhaps the most encouraging part of Tennessee’s road win is that they did it while its best player played very poorly.
Senior point guard Zakai Zeigler was a turnover machine. He eclipsed his previous career-high of six turnovers in the first half when he coughed the ball up nine times. A pair of those turnovers were more on teammates than they were on him but there was no denying that he did a very poor job.
Zeigler was simply trying to do way too much. He forced lobs that weren’t there, turned the ball over while trying to split double teams and just made poor decisions. He was better in the second half, turning it over just twice then but
The All-SEC point guard did some good things, scoring 19 points, playing great defense and dishing out seven assists to go along with the turnovers. But Zeigler was far from his best. There was some good in that.
Tennessee Got Strong Bench Minutes From Cade Phillips and Jordan Gainey
Starting power forward Igor Milicic Jr. picked up two fouls for in the first five minutes of the game, relinquishing him to the bench for the rest of the first half. Sophomore Cade Phillips stepped up in a massive way.
Phillips does all the little things well and that’s exactly what he did against Louisville. He played strong defense and was really good on the glass where he grabbed six boards. The sophomore didn’t do anything spectacular offensively but that’s not his game. He did score six points and make the easy ones.
Jordan Gainey is going to give Tennessee big offensive games at point this year and while he didn’t have one against Louisville, scoring nine points on a humble four shots, he still did some really nice things.
The super senior’s defense is just at another level compared to last season and he was overall solid when Zeigler was on the bench and he had to run the point guard spot.
Further down the bench, both JP Estrella and Cade Phillips gave Tennessee good minutes in what was relatively limited playing time. There were questions about Tennessee’s bench entering the season. They were great in the Vols’ first big game.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee basketball returns home Wednesday where they’ll face Montana. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. ET from Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. The SEC Network+ is broadcasting the game.
