CHARLOTTE — On the same floor seven hours earlier, the athletic, aggressive Mississippi State team that throttled Tennessee last week at the SEC Tournament went down meekly, by 18 points, to middling Michigan State.
On the massive Spectrum Arena video screens high above the Volunteers as they took pregame shots, Kentucky’s desperate and futile fight for its NCAA Tournament life played out for all to see. The crowd let out an “Ohhhhhh” as a long 3-pointer from instant Oakland Golden Grizzlies and American sports legend Jack Gohlke ripped through the net.
Thursday also saw South Carolina lose by 14 to Oregon, making it a bad first full day of NCAA action for the SEC and a good day for Greg Sankey to refrain from telling us how Georgia and Ole Miss deserved opportunities. All these things happened before Rick Barnes’ Vols even had to look into the menacing eyes of the Saint Peter’s mascot, Pete the Peacock.
But this thing isn’t about how your conference does and it isn’t about history, it’s just about how you handle the moment and play. The Midwest Region No. 15 seed Peacocks weren’t capable of giving the No. 2 seed Vols a moment, and the Vols played fine in an 83-49 rout. Two years ago, it was Saint Peter’s that ejected a John Calipari team. That Saint Peter’s team was America’s sweetheart; this one was just Tennessee’s kick-start.
we like the easy ones
pic.twitter.com/YJqlMxTado— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) March 22, 2024
The most important aspect of that was a senior who scored six points. The Vols (25-8) pivot now to No. 7 seed Texas (21-12) on Saturday for a trip to the Sweet 16 in Detroit — after a day of Rick Barnes being asked about his former employer and his mentorship of Texas coach Rodney Terry — and that means an opponent with the size, athleticism and skill to demand Tennessee’s best.
Tennessee’s best requires role players shooting with confidence up and down the lineup. That was the subplot of this game and quickly became the focus, other than not getting anyone hurt — which was jeopardized when both of UT’s centers had scares. Starter Jonas Aidoo went down hard in the first half but returned and was fine. Backup Tobe Awaka had a right leg injury and was listed by UT as “questionable” in the second half, but he returned as well.
Disaster was averted, and neither were guarded by anyone who could match up physically. They weren’t the only Vols who had their way.
“Man, those guys are good,” Saint Peter’s coach Bashir Mason said to open his news conference.
Aidoo had 15 points in just 20 minutes. Dalton Knecht led the way as usual with 23. Zakai Zeigler dictated the game on both ends, beating little brother Armoni in the process, and finished with 11 points and 10 assists. He missed last year’s Sweet 16 run with a torn ACL and said after his NCAA return: “It was a good feeling to be back out there.”
Zeigler brothers showing some love after their game ♥️ pic.twitter.com/oroyksv19V
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 22, 2024
Those are the three guys who have led the way all season. A deep run is going to require offensive help from others, and others are capable. But the three primary candidates to hit outside shots when opponents take away the top scorers had been slumping together over 10 games.
In that stretch, senior Santiago Vescovi was 9-for-34 from 3-point range. Senior Josiah-Jordan James was 9-for-33. Junior reserve Jordan Gainey was 5-for-25. That’s 23-for-92 combined, 25 percent and a real problem if it persists. It has caused hesitation on some shots that need to go up, and perhaps has adversely affected defense at times. Mason said the Vols’ role players have been “spotty,” and he was hoping to force the ball into their hands as much as possible.
Vescovi let one fly early that grazed the bottom of the backboard. James put one up, air ball. Gainey put one up, air ball. It was shaky early.
But late in the first half, Vescovi stepped into one and drilled it. Then he did it again. The lack of hesitation and the rotation harkened back to the past two seasons when Vescovi was one of the most important aspects of Tennessee’s offense.
He finished with those six points on four 3-point tries. Gainey hit one, too, and scored six. James never took another one and was scoreless. But for all the other things those guys do, a combined night of 3-for-8 from deep (37.5 percent) constitutes progress. Barnes wasn’t happy once when Vescovi turned down a shot, which led to a turnover, which led to a Barnes discussion with Vescovi.
And that led to the makes.
“We’ve got guys we think can shoot the ball and we want them to shoot with confidence, and that’s something we echoed all week,” Barnes said. “We’re gonna take our shots. We’re gonna be aggressive.”
Next time out, there’s no other choice.
(Photo of Santiago Vescovi celebrating with Josiah-Jordan James: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
