Tennessee vows to return to form in Round 3 vs. Kentucky: "We didn't play like ourselves"

Friday night, Kentucky plays Tennessee for the third time this season — and the first time ever in the NCAA Tournament. Of course, the Cats won the first two games, both upsets, beating the Vols by five in Knoxville and eleven in Rupp Arena. Ahead of tomorrow night’s Sweet 16 matchup, the Volunteers vowed to return in form in round three at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“We didn’t play like ourselves the first two times we played,” Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler said in today’s press conference. “I could say, obviously they won the game, they got the best of us. Just going out there, everybody doing our jobs, being ourselves, that’s going to be the main goal. If we do that, I feel like we have a pretty good chance to win the game.”

When asked to go into more detail, Zeigler and sophomore forward Cade Phillips said that “Tennessee Basketball” starts on defense. The Vols allowed Kentucky to score 78 points in Knoxville and 75 points in Lexington, well above the average of 62.8 points they’ve allowed this season, which ranks eighth nationally.

“Really, on the defensive end, we weren’t ourselves, little things like being in our gaps or 50/50 balls,” Zeigler said. “So really just picking our intensity back up and just being ourselves. We know we’re the best defense in the country. We didn’t show that either of the times that we played them. Offense is going to take care of itself. Coach Barnes lets us know that all the time.”

“We’re a team that prides ourselves on defense and toughness,” Phillips said. “And that’s something that we practice every day. And we felt that the first two times we played Kentucky that was not an emphasis of what we did. We felt like our head was in other places.”

Rick Barnes gave Mark Pope plenty of credit for his game plan in the first two meetings. Kentucky shot 50% (51-102) from the field and 50% (24-48) from the three-point line in those games, while limiting Tennessee to 38.1% from the floor and 22.2% from deep.

“They shot the ball well. I can tell you that, do I think — again, when they’re open, do I think their shots are going to go in? Absolutely. But you also you have to think that might be part of their schemes that we weren’t ready for. You have to give them all the credit.

“But we’ve got to be better, we know that. But both of those games were very close-played games. And they made more plays and the right plays when they needed to. And we’ll have to be better.”

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It’s been a month and a half since Kentucky’s win over the Vols in Lexington. Both sides are confident they’ve grown since then; Tennessee won seven of its next eight games after the loss, a stretch that included wins over Alabama and Auburn.

“We’ve played a lot of big games since then,” Phillips said. “So our team, we’ve learned a lot about each other and about ourselves. And, like I said earlier, we’ve continued to improve. We’re a very intrinsically focused team. We focus on every game and what we need to do. That’s where we’ve grown over the last month.”

As for Kentucky, Lamont Butler did not play in the first matchup in Knoxville and reaggravated his shoulder injury in the second in Lexington. He has returned to the lineup since and played his best game in months vs. Illinois. Mark Pope expects Rick Barnes to have some tricks up his sleeve on defense, but Koby Brea, who scored 18 points in the first matchup in Knoxville, said the Cats will have the same mentality on the floor tomorrow night.

“I don’t think we have to do anything different. I think we’ve got to do the same thing against every team, consider to be ourselves. We trust each other on the court. We know what we’re capable of doing. Tennessee is obviously a really good opponent. Gotta give them respect and we’re coming into the game with the same mentality that we came into the first two.”

Andrew Carr expects to see the best version of the Vols tomorrow night, especially from the outside. Tennessee was a combined 14-63 (22%) from the three-point line in the first two games. The Vols have been better in the NCAA Tournament, 21-50 (42%).

“For them, coming into this third one, they think they will probably shoot the ball a little bit better,” Carr said. “I feel like for us to continue being able to come out on top, we’ve just got to continue to contest every shot and make every shot tough. And that’s what we’re able to do in the first two matchups. That’s what we’re going to be looking to do again on Friday.”