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Tennessee’s two successive buckets force a Kentucky timeout (0:22)
Felix Okpara cleans up a miss with a dunk, then Zakai Zeigler steals the inbounds pass and hits a 3-pointer for Tennessee. (0:22)
INDIANAPOLIS — In its men’s basketball history, the University of Tennessee has played in 27 NCAA tournaments and has reached the Sweet 16 10 times.
But from Bernard King to Chris Lofton, from Dale Ellis to Grant Williams, and from Ernie Grunfeld to Allan Houston, the Volunteers have never managed to harness all that star power and reach the Final Four.
For the second straight year, Tennessee reached the Elite Eight and is on the doorstep of the program’s first Final Four. The No. 2 Vols dispatched No. 3 Kentucky on Friday in a drama-free 78-65 victory at Lucas Oil Stadium in which the Wildcats never cut the lead to single-digits in the second half.
Tennessee has the most Sweet 16 appearances without getting to a Final Four in college basketball history, and those 27 NCAA tournament appearances without reaching the final weekend rank fourth behind only BYU (32), Missouri (30) and Xavier, per ESPN Research.
“It would mean everything,” senior star Zakai Zeigler said of reaching the Final Four. “It would mean everything for the players, it’d mean everything to the coaches, and it’ll be everything for Vol Nation. Our program has been wanting one of these for a long, long time, and I feel like we got a pretty good chance at it.”
Tennessee feels good about its chance in the wake of one of the program’s most complete games this season. After losing to Kentucky twice in the regular season, Tennessee stifled the Wildcats by allowing them to make just six 3-pointers for the game.
Zeigler led the way with 18 points and 10 assists, Chaz Lanier added 17 points, and Jordan Gainey came off the bench to score 16.
Zakai Zeigler (5) celebrates after the Vols beat Kentucky on Friday to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year. Tennessee needs one more win to reach the program’s first Final Four. “It would mean everything,” he said. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Tennessee played its trademark hard-edged defense, avoided offensive lulls and got a thorough team performance that included 11 rebounds and eight points from bouncy center Felix Okpara.
It puts Tennessee on the precipice of history, and the stakes are clear for the players.
“It would mean the world,” senior Jahmai Mashack told ESPN. “I came to this program not for my accolades. I came in to do it for this fan base. They deserve nothing more but getting to the Final Four, advancing to the national championship and coming out with a win, and that’s what I wanted to be able to give to them.”
Mashack added that the team is motivated to make history for coach Rick Barnes, who is in his 10th season at Tennessee. Barnes has led Tennessee to two of the program’s three Elite Eight appearances. He led Texas to the 2003 Final Four but hasn’t returned since.
Barnes has the most wins (836) of any active coach without a national title. All time, only Bob Huggins has won more games (935) without getting a national title.
Tennessee hired Barnes after a strong run at Texas lost momentum and the school fired him in 2015. Since then, he has helped turn Tennessee into an SEC juggernaut and has the Vols on the cusp of history.
“It would be obviously a great accomplishment because that’s what everybody’s searching for, fighting for,” Barnes told ESPN when asked about the Final Four. “And I’m just proud of these guys. We’ve worked hard, and it’s not like we’ve got a bunch of household names, I guess. … Obviously, I’d love to see it happen.”
