Jay Bilas says Duke has to be 'heavily favored' vs. Tennessee in NCAA Tournament

Fifth-seeded Duke will take on fourth-seeded Tennessee on Saturday afternoon and ESPN’s College GameDay crew is high on Duke’s chances to take the matchup and advance further in the NCAA Tournament.

In part that’s due to one absence for Tennessee that has changed the makeup of the lineup for the Volunteers.

“Not having Zakai Zeigler in the lineup is a huge factor in this game because he’s the primary ball-handler, he’s their best defender, he applies pressure at the point of attack,” analyst Jay Bilas said on GameDay on Saturday morning.

That key absence has affected how the Volunteers have played, though they’ve had a few games to get used to playing without him now.

“That means that you’re going to be able to spend more time on Santiago Vescovi, and you can really just face-guard him,” Bilas pointed out. “And my guess is they’ll put Tyrese Proctor on him, who I think is Duke’s best perimeter defender. That puts a lot of pressure on Tyreke Key to handle the ball, also on Vescovi.”

Duke can stress Tennessee across the board

Listening to Bilas speak on ESPN’s College GameDay, it’s clear he believes the Blue Devils have better answers at most spots than the Volunteers.

Now in the NCAA Tournament, some of Tennessee’s perimeter shooting has disappeared outright with Zeigler now on the bench, while his absence has also made it easier to focus on a perimeter shooter like Vescovi.

“It’s going to be a difficult game because this is not a great perimeter shooting Tennessee team,” Bilas said. “And Duke’s offense has ramped up, but their defense has been outstanding all year. Great rim protection now that Dereck Lively II‘s in the lineup. Their offensive rebounding is truly outstanding, and now their offense is caught up where they can really spread the floor and there are threats out there. Dariq Whitehead coming off the bench, he’s their best shooter and he’s a lottery-pick talent.”

Duke won nine straight games to end the season and has now won an NCAA Tournament game, as well. That’s 10 straight wins.

Now in the NCAA Tournament, Tennessee can’t quite boast that level of continuity or continued success. That makes it hard for the GameDay crew to pick anyone other than Duke.

“So now having their complete lineup together and now with some continuity, I think they’re 18-1 with their full complement of players,” Bilas said. “Duke’s got to be heavily favored in this game.”