No. 4 Tennessee using 'kill shots' to power top-ranked defense

Tennessee looked dead and buried at Texas a year ago. The Vols were down 16 points with six minutes left at the Erwin Center as Rick Barnes made his return to Austin in the Big 12-SEC Challenge. Then the Vols went on a run.

They scored 16 straight points, tying the game on a Victor Bailey Jr. offensive board and bucket with 1:28 left. 

It didn’t end well, with Texas hitting a free throw with six seconds left to escape with a 52-51 win. But it was a sign of things to come with the current Tennessee basketball team. 

This year, the Vols are one of the best teams in the country in “kill shots,” the term college basketball analyst Evan Miyawaka uses to describe a run of 10-0 or better in a game. 

As No. 10 Texas (17-3) makes the return trip to face No. 4 Tennessee (17-3) on Saturday (6 p.m. Eastern Time; TV: ESPN), the Vols have 21 kill shots to their credit this season. The only teams with more are Houston (24), Rutgers (22) and Missouri (22). The Vols have allowed only three kill shots from opposing teams.

🧵The “Kill Shot”: Tracking double digit scoring runs in games (10-0 or better) over the course of the season.

A team with more scoring runs than the opponent wins 81% of the time. Here’s the landscape of the top 75 teams in terms of runs scored and runs conceded👇 pic.twitter.com/LiX2cCG0jB

— Evan Miyakawa (@EvanMiya) January 20, 2023

Tennessee on Wednesday nearly added three more kill shots against Georgia, going on a 12-0 run in the second half after a pair 9-0 runs in the first half. In the 70-41 win, the Vols’ top-ranked defense gave up just 24 points over the final 30 minutes, 50 seconds, after Georgia scored 17 in the first nine minutes, 10 seconds.

“It’s a combination of a couple different things that get you going on those runs,” Barnes said after the game. “Plus if you can get some stops in there, that’s what really can break it loose for you.”

Three stops in a row on the defensive end, in Barnes’ terminology, is referred to as a sack. The Vols want as many sacks as they can get in a game. 

“We’re definitely counting those things,” freshman power forward Tobe Awaka said, “and it just makes up a great part of who we are as a team.”

Forget just three stops in a row, though. Tennessee didn’t let Georgia score for a stretch of seven minutes, 45 seconds in the second half Wednesday, stretching a 15-point lead to 26.

“No matter what we are offensively,” sophomore point guard Zakai Zeigler said, “defense is where it starts. That leads to our best offense.”

The Kill Shot is officially mainstream!

Shoutout to @DaneBradshaw for talking about it on the ESPN broadcast of the Tennessee game. As he mentioned, the Vols have only allowed three 10-0 runs all season. Track the data at https://t.co/cegyfz96ax. pic.twitter.com/PrMnf0qdXd

— Evan Miyakawa (@EvanMiya) January 22, 2023

Tennessee finished at No. 3 in the KenPom.com ratings for adjusted defensive efficiency last season, giving up 86.4 points per 100 possessions. The Vols have been No. 1 in the same metric for the last nine weeks, giving up 82.7 points.

“One, older guys coming back,” Barnes said on Friday, when asked about the defense improving with most of the same players back this season. “And then the fact that we’ve got three, four guys that can really guard the ball and guys that really understand how to fix some things. We talk about fix-it guys. We’ve got some of those guys obviously — more of those guys than a year ago. 

“It’s the fact that we’re older and knew we had to get better. We were solid. I think we’ve always been solid defensively, but some years you can be better than others when guys are really willing to buy in and know we can be really good here. We’ve still got to rebound it better, but overall, I think all of the credit goes to the player’s mindset that they know they want to be better than a year ago.”

Georgia became the 10th Tennessee opponent held under 50 points this season. The Bulldogs had to score in the close second to get over the 40-point mark.

In 15 of Tennessee’s 17 wins this season, the Vols have held the opposition under 60.

“I think Coach Barnes is just trying to hold us to a high, championship standard,” Awaka said. “He’ll raise the goal and we’ll exceed it and he’ll keep pushing it just so we can get better. 

“He hates complacent and that’s something I definitely respect about him — him always wanting us to get better, him always challenging us and I think that’s what makes him a great coach and what’s making us a great basketball team right now.”

Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 10 Texas, Saturday, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN

Zeigler on Wednesday night was asked his memories of the loss at Texas a year ago. He didn’t mention the 16 straight points that improbably got the Vols back in the game late.

Instead, all he remembered was the final score.

“I remember us losing by one,” he said. “That’s how I’ll put it. It’s going to be a pretty good matchup and we’re just looking forward to it.”

“I just know the last time we matched up,” Zeigler added, “they beat us and we remember that feeling. We’re not going to have that feeling on Saturday.”