The Tennessee Volunteers are competing in their 27th NCAA basketball tournament, having advanced at least one game for the 18th time.
They have never encountered another Southeastern Conference foe in NCAA play until now, with Friday’s Sweet 16 matchup (7:39 p.m. on TBS) in the Midwest Region at Indianapolis pitting the second-seeded Vols against third-seeded and longtime rival Kentucky. It’s the equivalent of Tennessee advancing in the College Football Playoff to face Alabama.
“Having as many teams in our league having this type of year, I’ve always just thought about it as the next game,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said Wednesday during a news conference. “It’s been a month or so since we last played Kentucky, and I think it would be different if we had played them in the SEC tournament. It is what it is, and this time of year it doesn’t matter.
“This time of year, everybody is on a good roll, and guys are excited and confident. Whether it’s Kentucky or whoever, we’ve just got to be ready to play.”
The Vols (29-7) had the better regular season compared to the Wildcats (24-11), finishing 12-6 in SEC play to Kentucky’s 10-8 league mark. Tennessee also advanced to the SEC tournament title game against Florida, while the Wildcats were soundly bounced by Alabama in the quarterfinals.
Yet when the two teams tangled, Kentucky emerged victorious on each occasion, prevailing 78-73 in Knoxville on Jan. 28 and 75-64 in Lexington on Feb. 11.
“We’ve played them twice, so we obviously know them and their style of play,” Vols senior forward Igor Milicic Jr. said. “I feel like we’re familiar with them, but we’ll see what they’ve changed lately.”
What needs to change for Tennessee in this third go-around is the shooting accuracy from 3-point range. The Wildcats were 12-of-24 from behind the arc at both the Food City Center and in Rupp Arena — Kentucky fifth-year senior guard and Dayton transfer Koby Brea was a combined 6-of-9 in those games — while the Vols were a combined 14-of-63 from long range (22.2%).
Tennessee leads the SEC in scoring defense at 62.8 points per game, but the Vols allowed an average of 76.5 in their two meetings with Kentucky.
“Kentucky is very big on ball movement,” said SEC Network analyst Dane Bradshaw, a former Tennessee guard. “They swing the ball side to side and run great plays and great actions, and they’ll run a lot of plays through their 7-footer, Amari Williams. When you move it side to side and can get Tennessee in rotation — it just seems like when Tennessee has played Kentucky, Tennessee is running all over the place, and they’re more reacting to Kentucky as opposed to telling the opponent where the game is going to be played.
“Other teams that have guards who are great penetrators and try to beat you off the bounce seem to have trouble against Tennessee. You’re not going to dribble past Tennessee, and where Kentucky has had success is ball movement and sharing and getting those open looks at the 3-point line.”
Bradshaw believes the result could be different this time.
“I think you’ll see Tennessee’s best defensive effort,” he said, “and some of that may even be covered up with greater ball pressure. The game within the game will be how tough can Tennessee make those passes and catches. They also need to get Lamont Butler in foul trouble.
“If he can play fewer than 25 minutes, that would be a huge key to a Tennessee win.”
Butler, who played in the 2023 Final Four with San Diego State, amassed 14 points, five assists and three steals in 33 minutes during the Wildcats’ 84-75 dismissing of sixth-seeded Illinois in a second-round game Sunday. The 6-2, 208-pounder committed two fouls while drawing seven.
Kentucky never faced Tennessee this season with both Butler and fellow fifth-year senior guard Jaxson Robinson, who followed Wildcats first-year coach Mark Pope from BYU. Robinson missed Kentucky’s win over the Vols in Lexington due to a wrist injury, and when he wound up reaggravating it, he was shelved for the season.
“Lamont Butler is a terrific player who brings a really good defensive element to them,” Barnes said. “He knows what he’s doing on the offensive end, too. Give them credit. They’ve made the shots both times that we’ve played, and they’re a team that’s capable of making tough shots.
“We did have some breakdowns that let them get going, and if you give a team that can shoot it like that a little bit of space and get their rhythm, it doesn’t take much for them to have a great night against you.”
Tough to choose
Tennessee senior guards Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler comprise half of the finalists for the Naismith defensive player of the year in men’s college basketball.
So who should win if it comes down to those two?
“If I had a vote, I would vote for both of them,” Barnes said. “They both go about it in a different way. You’ve got Jahmai having to match up every night with normally the other team’s best player, and then you’ve got a guy like Zakai who’s playing 94 feet and getting ball-screened every time he turns around.
“It’s two different ways to look at it, and it’s a compliment to both of them. I think they’re both deserving of it.”
When Milicic was posed the same question, he replied: “There have been co-MVPs, so why not co-defensive players from our team?”
Sizable atmosphere
The Vols and Wildcats will vie inside Lucas Oil Stadium, which houses the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.
Milicic, who began his career at Virginia before spending two seasons at Charlotte and then transferring to Tennessee, was asked Wednesday if he had ever played basketball in a football venue.
“I played at Syracuse my freshman year,” he said. “Well, I sat on the bench.”
Henderson commits
Tennessee has received a 2025 commitment from Troy Henderson, a 6-1, 180-pound point guard from John Marshall High School in Richmond, Virginia. Henderson is rated a three-star prospect.
Henderson would join two previous signees: shooting guard Amari Evans (6-5, 200) of Atlanta and center DeWayne Brown (6-8, 255) of Hoover, Alabama.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com..