LEXINGTON, Ky. — UCLA basketball turned in one of the most impressive performances on the first day of the NCAA Tournament, throttling 10-seed Utah State 72-47. With the win, the Bruins advance to the Round of 32 to face two-seed Tennessee in a highly anticipated tournament matchup.
“It’s a different animal. I’m really happy with our effort tonight,” UCLA head coach Mick Cronin said of facing Tennessee following the win. “But we’ve been preparing all year to play Saturday. Hopefully a lot of the Big Ten battles we’ve had will prepare us, because my respect for Coach Barnes is off the charts. Because he does it the right way. He cares about kids. He’s not a phony. He is who he is.”
Tennessee basketball is back in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight time under Barnes’ leadership. The Vols are a two-seed for the third time under Barnes for the second consecutive season.
Barnes’ 10th Tennessee team opened up the NCAA Tournament with a 77-62 victory over Wofford on Thursday evening. Star guard Zakai Zeigler and Chaz Lanier each played up to their billing with Lanier scoring 29 points and Zeigler recording a 12-point, 12-assist double-double.
Cronin shared his admiration for Barnes following the Bruins’ win over Utah State while making glowing remarks about Tennessee’s program.
“Tennessee got really lucky when somebody else let him go,” Cronin said of Barnes. “It’s been great for Tennessee basketball, obviously. They’ve been in a golden era of being at the top or near the top of the SEC. So they’re always a great defensive team, they take care of the ball. They don’t beat themselves. They got a great point guard down the road.”
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It’s hard to disagree with Cronin’s assessment of Tennessee men’s basketball’s “golden era.” The Vols have been ranked in the AP Top 25 every week of the last four years. Tennessee finished in the top four of the SEC standings three times during those four years while winning the SEC Regular-Season and Tournament Championship once each.
Over the last eight years, Tennessee has finished in the top four of the SEC six times and has won at least a share of the conference twice. They’ve made the SEC Tournament Championship four times going 1-3 in those games.
Under Barnes’ guidance, Tennessee’s program has three of its 10 trips to the Sweet 16 and one of its two trips to the Elite Eight.
However, the Vols are still looking to knock down the door and to make their first Final Four in program history. To do that, Tennessee will first have to defeat Cronin’s Bruins in the Round of 32.
Tipoff between Tennessee and UCLA is at 9:40 p.m. ET on Saturday night at Rupp Arena. Both TBS and TruTv are broadcasting the game.
