Previewing Tennessee basketball's matchup with Florida in SEC Championship
Photo courtesy of Tennessee Athletics
By Zach Carey
In a Saturday afternoon thriller, the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers out-lasted the No. 3 ranked Auburn Tigers to make Sunday’s SEC Tournament Championship. Point guard Zakai Zeigler led the Vols with 20 points, four assists and a perfect 9-for-9 mark at the free throw line.
“I thought Zakai was awesome during timeouts today,” head coach Rick Barnes said of Zeigler’s impact as a leader in the Volunteers’ huddle. “Zakai said ‘We’re gonna do this on this possession, next possession this, next possession this. And it went pretty much how he described it.”
Tennessee’s experience was on display on Saturday as the Vols hit 25-of-27 free throws as Jordan Gainey (8-for-8) and Jahmai Mashack (6-for-8) were efficient at the stripe all day long.
“Yesterday we missed a lot of free throws down the stretch especially from some guys like myself who should be making them,” Zeigler said. “I feel like we [were] laser-focused the whole time every time we [were] at that free throw line.”
Mashack continues to come up clutch in the final moments, hitting a pair of free throws with 14 seconds remaining to extend Tennessee’s lead from three to five points and essentially icing the game as a result.
Crucially, the Vols’ elite defense hunkered down late versus the Tigers. Auburn scored just three points in the final four minutes of the game which allowed Tennessee to stretch its two-point, 64-62 lead into the final 70-65 score.
While Auburn’s Johni Broome got what he wanted for most of the contest – finishing with 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting – Tennessee limited him in the final minutes. After scoring on a hook shot with 4:10 remaining, Broome proceeded to shoot 0-for-2 from the field and 0-for-2 from the free throw line as Auburn struggled to create beyond him.
The upset victory in the SEC Tournament semifinals sets the Vols up for a championship bout with the No. 4 Florida Gators who beat the No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide 104-82 in the matchup immediately following Tennessee’s win. Frankly, Florida is absolutely storming right now. Scoring 104 points and 1.45 points per possession against a top five defense in Alabama is an absurd feat.
The Gators and the Volunteers traded knockout blows in the regular season. Florida won the first round in Gainesville, pummeling Tennessee by 30 points and limiting Barnes’ team to just 43 points. The Vols got their revenge in Knoxville, however, handling Florida by 20 back on February 1st. One would assume Sunday’s contest is a closer affair than those two were.
The Gators pack a roster full of playmakers led by senior Walter Clayton. Florida might not shoot the absolute lights out – the team is 84th in the country in three-point efficiency at 35.6%. But the Gators make up for it with a backcourt of slashers who can create good looks for themselves around the basket. Throw in a frontcourt of behemoths like Alex Condon, Micah Handlogtten, and Rueben Chinyelu who rebound 38% of the team’s misses and there’s not much a defense can do to contain Florida.
If anyone does, Tennessee has the perimeter defenders to match up with Florida in the backcourt. The glass, though, is where the Gators should have a distinct advantage. The Volunteers’ 70.3% defensive rebound rate is 177th nationwide. The team has struggled against superior size. Felix Okpara, Igor Milicic, and Cade Philips will have to batten down the hatches to give the Vols a shot at slowing Florida down.
On the other end, the Gators are hardly slouches. They rank seventh in KenPom’s defensive efficiency metric relative to Tennessee’s spot in third. Florida is sixth in the country in effective field goal percentage allowed, indicating their success at defending the three-point line where they hold opponents to just 29.6% shooting.
Florida is an effective team defense. The Gators don’t take a lot of chances trying to generate turnovers, they merely trust their system and force offenses to rotate the ball effectively to find an open shot.
Zeigler actually didn’t play in Tennessee’s win versus Florida back in February. Instead, Gainey piloted the Volunteer offense with 16 points and five assists. With both of those players healthy alongside Chaz Lanier, Tennessee’s uber-talented backcourt is poised to take it to the Gators while hoping that a few of their complementary frontcourt threats including Okpara, Mashack, and Igor Milicic step up accordingly.
Tennessee and Florida tip off in Nashville at 1:00 PM ET on ESPN. Stay tuned to Locker Room Access for analysis of the result – good or bad for the Vols – ahead of Selection Sunday just a few hours later.