Tennessee prides itself on having one of the best defenses in college basketball.
Statistically speaking, the Houston Cougars have the best.
“We hang our hat on defense, and so do they,” Tennessee senior point guard Zakai Zeigler said Saturday afternoon in a news conference. “They’re one of the best defenses in the country, and they are super aggressive on every possession. They feed off of turnovers and feed off of how good they play defense.”
A berth in the NCAA tournament’s Final Four will be at stake when the Midwest Region’s top-seeded Cougars (33-4) take on the second-seeded Volunteers (30-7) on Sunday (2:20 p.m. on CBS) in Indianapolis. The contest in Lucas Oil Stadium will include three of the four finalists for Naismith defensive player of the year: Zeigler, Vols senior guard Jahmai Mashack and Houston sophomore forward Joseph Tugler.
Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars lead the nation in fewest points allowed per game with 58.5, while Rick Barnes’ Vols are eighth, with their average of 62.9 points allowed also ranking third among power conference programs behind Houston and Duke.
“They are as good of a ball-screen defensive team you can play in the country,” Barnes said. “They attack it really hard. They’ve got great length, and they really are so well-taught and schooled in that, and they rebound it. You can’t be a great defensive team if you can’t finish it, and they also do a great job of getting to the offensive boards. They turn people over in their ball screens, and the more they can get you to the sideline, they can really turn the heat up even more by rotating over and building the wall over that way.
“That’s just who Kelvin is and who he’s always been. He’s always been underrated offensively, but when you think of him and his program, defense and rebounding are two of the things that come to mind.”
Houston has the nation’s top field-goal defense at 38.45%, with Tennessee right behind at 38.47%. Both teams enjoy a plus-five rebound margin every time they take the floor, and each averages at least 4.5 blocks per game.
Yet Sampson does not see this as a mirror-image showdown.
“There probably are not as many similarities as you think,” Sampson said. “When you’re the head coach and you’re getting your defensive rules and your core values of your defense, usually it’s based on things you run a lot. We try to be really good at pick-and-roll defense, and every team we play comes up with a plan to try to beat it. We’ve played Ryan Nembhard from Gonzaga and Braden Smith from Purdue, and now we get Zakai Zeigler from Tennessee. They are three of the best point guards in the country, and all three have different styles that force you to have to play different defensively.
“I think the best defenses can adjust to how the other team tries to beat you. Zeigler presents a different kind of front, because he uses ball screens probably less than the other two, but he impacts the game probably more dynamically with his athleticism and his speed and the different ways that he can get a basket. He can get a rebound and go get a layup. He can get a steal and go get a layup. He can use a ball screen, curl it, force the big to help, and throw it behind for a dunk or throw it over for a dunk.”
Houston and Tennessee are playing for the sixth time and for a first occasion since the Vols trounced the Cougars 69-49 in Knoxville on Dec. 19, 1995. The Vols won three of the first five meetings.
Finish the job
Tennessee was in this exact same spot last season in Detroit, when the Vols came up short in the Elite Eight against Purdue, which won the Midwest Region championship 72-66.
“We made a promise to ourselves to get back here, but we want to be able to finish the job we didn’t do last year,” Mashack said. “I feel like we had a special group of guys last year and that we probably won’t have guys like that at Tennessee again, but I feel like this group is a special group of guys as well.
“I don’t think there will ever be another Zakai that walks through the Tennessee doors. There will never be another Jahmai Mashack, and there will never be another Felix (Okpara), Igor (Milicic Jr.) or Chaz (Lanier), but that’s what makes us special.”
Hardly rivals
In the eight seasons from 1998-99 to 2005-06, Sampson coached at Oklahoma while Barnes was at Texas.
They may have been at rival schools, but they never saw each other as rivals.
“He’s one of a kind,” Sampson said. “I wish we had more like him. He’s just a jewel among jewels. He’s one of the great ones. I’ve spent a lot of time with that guy, going different places on the road and in recruiting.
“If we don’t win it, I hope he does. That’s how much I respect him.”
Barnes is now the winningest active coach in men’s college basketball (minimum 10 years in Division I) with 836 victories, having broken a tie with John Calipari with Friday night’s Sweet 16 triumph against Kentucky.
Odds and ends
Although Houston and Tennessee are more recognized for their defensive success, the Cougars are 12th nationally and the Vols 17th in offensive efficiency in the KenPom.com rankings. … In his 10 seasons as Tennessee’s coach, Barnes has defeated Kentucky at least once in nine of them. … Of Okpara’s 11 rebounds Friday, seven transpired on the offensive end. … Zeigler has 70 steals this season and is the fourth player in program history to amass that amount, joining LaMarcus Golden (78 in 1993-94), Kennedy Chandler (74 in 2021-22) and JaJuan Smith (73 in 2006-07). … Houston (105 weeks) and Tennessee (79) have the longest active streaks of being ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.