The anatomy of a title: Tennessee basketball's run to the SEC regular-season championship

Tennessee basketball on Wednesday night won the SEC regular-season championship outright, beating South Carolina 66-59 at Colonial Life Arena. Winning a title is no easy task. 

The Vols entered Wednesday’s game having not won an outright title since 2008. They shared the championship in 1972, 1977, 1982, 2000 and under Barnes in 2017-2018.

So how does a team win a championship? You do it by consistently showing up every day. You do it by improving daily both collectively and as individuals. 

With that in mind, here are some key moment in the anatomy of Tennessee’s championship run. 

April 21, 2023: Dalton Knecht commits to Tennessee

Less than a month after seeing their season end in Madison Square Garden at the hands of cinderella Florida Atlantic, the Vols landed a relatively unknown transfer wing from Northern Colorado in Dalton Knecht. 

The Vols were coming off a Sweet Sixteen loss to Florida Atlantic in which they shot just 31%, including just 6 of 23 behind the 3-point line, and knew they needed offensive help. 

Knecht fell in love with the Vols on his visit which was highlighted by watching the spring football game. 

Little did anyone know the impact Knecht would have in the Vols anatomy of a title. Fans got a glimpse of it in the exhibition win at Michigan State. But no one in the country saw what was coming this winter. 

Welcome back, Zakai Zeigler

The tough-as-nails point guard badgered the coaching staff and the medical staff all fall, saying he was back and ready to go. Zeigler played 12 minutes in the season opener against Tennessee Tech after being held out of the exhibition game against Michigan State. 

Zeigler was eased by into things as his minutes began to build. He played 29 minutes against Purdue. He played 27 at North Carolina where Rick Barnes said he started to see his point guard look like his old self.

But it wasn’t easy. Zeigler was 19 of 67 from the floor and just 9 of 37 from three heading to San Antonio to take on North Carolina State back in December. 

The New York native was turned loose in the win over the Wolfpack, playing 39 minutes. He was 7 of 17 from the field including 4 of 8 from the 3-point line. He was officially back.

Zeigler has been a rock ever since both offensively and defensively playing the position at a level that’s pleasing to Barnes, which is one of the hardest tasks for a point guard in college basketball. 

“I tell every point guard, when you have what you think it is a great car, you don’t just turn it over to a 16 year old. You want a driver. If I had a great race car I would want the best driver I could put in it. The point guard is the driver,” Barnes offered. “He has to read so much. People have no idea. It’s like football. I can’t begin to tell you what a quarterback has to do, but it has to be the hardest position on the field. It’s the same thing on the basketball court with a pure point guard. We are putting the ball in his hands a lot. He had some great reads with his eyes where he looked off some things and made some great look away passes. His eyes set up so many little things. He’s gotten so much better. He was not a pure point guard when he came in here at all.”

The non-conference grind

Barnes likes to schedule tough and there’s no question that this year’s non-conference schedule was just that. It clearly prepared this team for the grind that was coming in SEC play. 

The Vols traveled to Wisconsin in early November and led wire to wire, picking up a marquee road win in the first week of the season. The Vols maturity was on display as they answered every Wisconsin run. Four Vols scored in double figures and Tennessee shot 50% from the field as a team.

Later in November, in the Maui Invitational, the Vols went 1-2 losing to Kansas and losing to Purdue. It felt like the Vols let one get away against the Boilermakers. Trailing Purdue by one, Zeigler and Knecht both missed potential go-ahead 3-pointers with two minutes to play. 

It wasn’t a win in Maui and there are no moral victories in Barnes’ program, but the Vols showed everyone, including themselves, they truly could play with anyone in the country. 

Knecht is officially a star

Tennessee laid an egg in the first half at North Carolina on November 29. It was as bad of a half of basketball as we have seen a Barnes team play. The Vols had to go to Chapel Hill less than a week after returning from Hawaii, but Barnes’ team just no-showed in the first 20 minutes.

Tennessee’s goal on defense is to hold a team under 70 points. The Tar Heels scored 61 in the first half and led by 22 at the break.

Barnes challenged his team’s competitiveness and fight at the half and the Vols got back into the game, cutting the lead to seven with 7:27 to play. 

Tennessee couldn’t get over the hump but the Vols found out  exactly what they had in Knecht. The transfer had his first 30-point game, scoring 37 points on 13 of 17 shooting. It was a sign of what was to come. 

Hello Mr. Aidoo

Barnes has long believed in his big man. His challenge has been to get his big man to believe in himself and be more assertive. It may have only been Georgia Southern, but it felt then like it was a big deal that Jonas Aidoo scored 29 points and more importantly took 16 shots.

The game marked Aidoo’s first double-double and gave everyone a glimpse that they could be more than a perimeter jump shooting team. Since that December night, Aidoo has six double-doubles.

In Tennessee’s current seven-game win streak, the center has been in double figures every game, including two double-doubles.

An SEC party at home to get things started

Tennessee opened the SEC schedule on January 6 against an Ole Miss team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 after starting the season 13-0.

How good were the Rebels? And good was Tennessee, the preseason pick to win the SEC? 

To borrow, Nuke LaLoosh’s line from Bull Durham, the Vols announced their presence with authority, hammering the Rebels 90-64. Aidoo had 24, Zeigler scored 17, Santiago Vescovi added 17 and Knecht finished with just 8 as he only took six shots, playing a season-low 19 minutes. It’s the only SEC game in which Knecht failed to reach double digits.

The rally in Athens

After Tennessee’s comeback felt short at Mississippi State on January 10, the Vols were in danger of dropping two straight SEC games on the road and falling to 1-2 on the season in league play at Georgia.

The Vols found themselves down 11 with 6:24 to play. Then Knecht scored 10 of the Vols’ final 19 points. He also had an assist, a steal and a block. He was the key offensively, but the Tennessee’s defense was smothering, holding Georgia to four points over the final 6:24 while rallying for the win. 

Defense travels and it did late that Saturday afternoon in Athens. 

Speaking of defense

Barnes’ teams and his program is built around defense and defense wins championships. The defense was a big part of the Vols win Wednesday night at South Carolina to clinch the title.

But the defense has been key all season and no bigger key than sweeping Alabama. 

The Tide has the most efficient and prolific offense in college basketball this season, but Tennessee’s defense has had their number. A year ago they held top-ranked Alabama to 59 points in Knoxville. In two games this season the Vols have held the Tide to their two lowest totals of the season, with 71 and 74. 

In the win at Alabama, Tennessee was simply the tougher team that got all the loose balls and shoved the Tide around. 

They can score too

Fans have always wondered if Barnes puts too much emphasis on defense, to the point it hurts his team offensively. Knecht has certainly been an offensive spark but in Rupp Arena the Vols let it be known they can run and score with anyone. 

“We like to play fast too,” Barnes said when asked about Kentucky’s pace heading into the match up. 

In a high-possession game, it was an offensive show for the Big Orange. 

Coming of a very disappointing home loss to South Carolina, a game that featured far too many Vols watching Knecht try to rally the team to a win, Barnes again challenged his players to stop waiting on Knecht to carry them.

They got the message. 

Five Vols reached double figures including Zeigler and Josiah-Jordan James who both led the way with 26 points. Zeigler was terrific, adding 13 assists and three steals with just two turnovers in 33 minutes.

Tennessee shot 48% from the field and simply outscored the ‘Cats on their home floor in a 103-92 win. The Vols’ message to the college basketball world was that they can any style of game they need to play.

The response

No one in the SEC was going to go unbeaten. And winning on the road in the conference has been a helluva challenge for everyone all year. 

Tennessee traveled to College Station on February 10 and got beat up in an 85-69 loss. Barnes criticized his team for not following the scouting report and for panicking when they got down double digits in the first half. 

A&M shot the lights out, beat the Vols on the glass and drove straight downhill to the basket. Losses happen, but the question was how would Tennessee respond. 

They are still responding as they have won seven straight, including a 35-point revenge beating of the Aggies in Knoxville on February 24. Individuals have responded as well.

The close

Heading into the final two weeks of the regular season, everything was in front of Tennessee. Four Quad 1 games against four ranked opponents to try and win at least a share of the league title. 

No one has had a tougher close and no one has had more control of their fate than the Vols.

There’s still one game left, but all Tennessee has done is win the first three including two on the road. And done so by playing different styles of games. They have battled foul trouble. They have rode their horse in Knecht and have gotten some timely plays from guys like Jamai Mashack, James, Vescovi, Jordan Gainey, Aidoo and Tobe Awaka. 

Knecht’s final 12 minutes against Auburn was must-see TV and a night no one will forget, as he scored 27 of his 39 points in the second half. At Alabama, the tide turned on Mashack’s three and subsequent steal, turning a deficit into a two-possession lead.

At South Carolina, it wasn’t pretty. It was sheer will and answering the bell to prevent a big run. 

The Vols have shown all year they have as much line up versatility as anyone in the country. Their versatility in personnel and style of play has been on display down the stretch. But most importantly, so has their grit.

How’s a championship won? You close out games and that’s what Tennessee has done down the stretch of the season.

In the final five minutes of the Vols last three wins, Tennessee is 9 of 17 from the field (53%). The Vols are 18 of 21 at the free-throw line (86%) and have committed just two turnovers. 

Over the course of the last four-plus months, the Tennessee basketball team has found a star. A go-to guy who can create a bucket for himself and others. Their point guard has returned physically and mentally is playing at the highest level of his career and the rest of the cast has found their niche and roles. Some nights they play bigger roles than others, but they have all have their fingerprints on the next banner to be hung in the rafters. 

Their challenge now is to see if they can hang more as the second act of the college basketball season is less than a week away.