DETROIT — There have been 24 seconds left on the shot clock, and all 5 Creighton gamers had been again on protection. Tennessee did not have a numbers benefit, nevertheless it had momentum, and it had Dalton Knecht.
The Volunteers’ All-American guard took one dribble towards the basket from the proper wing and promptly drew a crowd of defenders. As a swarm of Bluejays approached, he swung a fast go to Josiah-Jordan James within the nook. Earlier than Creighton guard Trey Alexander might full his closeout, James launched.
His shot hit nothing however web, capping off an 18-0 run that outlined Tennessee’s 92-87 win over Creighton within the Candy 16 on Friday. In some ways, the spurt outlined the Volunteers’ season.
Six days after hitting simply 3 of 25 makes an attempt from past the arc in an unsightly, defense-oriented win over No. 7 seed Texas within the second spherical, the No. 2 seed Volunteers’ electrical, game-changing spurt towards Creighton illustrated the chameleon-esque id which has made this group simply the second in class historical past to achieve an Elite Eight. Awaiting Sunday is a Midwest Regional ultimate showdown with No. 1 seed Purdue.
“I believe it simply reveals how versatile we’re,” Knecht mentioned of the contrasting types which have challenged his workforce in its final two victories. “We will play protection when our pictures aren’t falling and make it a bodily, gritty sport. We will additionally pace it up and play our kind of basketball the place we’re in transition, capturing 3-pointers, spacing the ground out and simply going out and hooping and enjoying our kind of basketball.”
Recognized for the final 4 seasons virtually completely for his or her protection — a recipe that plateaued with a Candy 16 look final season — the Volunteers can now win in different methods, and that versatility has them on the doorstep of this system’s first-ever Ultimate 4 look.
The indicators had been there from the start.
Tennessee’s season started precisely 5 months earlier than Friday night time’s win over Creighton in eerily related trend lower than 100 miles away. With fifth-year senior guard Santiago Vescovi out of the lineup, the Volunteers hit 11 3-pointers and topped Michigan State 89-88 in an exhibition showdown. It did not rely, nevertheless it confirmed what could be totally different about these Volunteers.
Months after an ACL damage to start line guard Zakai Zeigler zapped the Volunteers of life late within the 2022-23 season, their exhibition win over the Spartans provided a glimpse at how the 2023-24 Vols would have sufficient high quality guards to face up to less-than-ideal circumstances and nonetheless shine offensively.
With Vescovi out once more Friday as a result of sickness, Tennessee hit 11 3-pointers and outlasted a high quality foe on a courtroom in Michigan with a powerful offensive efficiency
“We will win quick tempo, gradual tempo, and I believe our schedule up till this level has actually helped us to win various kinds of ball video games,” James mentioned.
The Volunteers’ schedule has additionally given them a preview of what is forward. Tennessee fell 71-67 towards Purdue in November’s Maui Invitational. Since then, Knecht blossomed into an All-American and Zeigler has regained his type after a gradual begin following his return from the damage.
“For us to have the ability to play them once more and attempt to rewrite that story goes to be enormous,” James mentioned. “I am glad it was them as a substitute of Gonzaga as a result of we wished that problem. We wished that matchup simply to indicate our progress and our enchancment. We really feel like if we are able to beat them, we are able to beat anyone.”
The final time Tennessee had an offense that was near this dynamic, it led to a Candy 16 collision with none aside from Purdue within the 2019 NCAA Event. That Vols workforce, led by Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams, left one thing to be desired defensively and fell 99-94 in an time beyond regulation thriller because the Boilermakers drilled 15 of 31 makes an attempt from past the arc.
What makes these Volunteers totally different as they head into one other high-stakes NCAA Event showdown with the Boilermakers is that they have not sacrificed their elite protection in to attain their offensive evolution.
Tennessee ranks No. 28 in offensive effectivity, per KenPom.com, and No. 3 in defensive effectivity getting into the Elite Eight.
“I believe it has been a reasonably good transition,” sophomore heart Tobe Awaka mentioned. “We simply have to grasp by way of our offense that, if we’re having a nasty night time, we nonetheless must maintain our defensive mindset. I believe it is about holding guys accountable it doesn’t matter what, whether or not you are capturing nicely or capturing poorly. You need to get again and play protection.”
The Volunteers are nonetheless able to producing offensive clunkers, as they confirmed in a sloppy 62-58 second-round victory vs. Texas. However after they do, their protection is nice sufficient to maintain them in a sport. And when the offense is on, too?
Effectively, simply take a look at Friday’s 18-0 second-half surge towards Creighton for an instance of what can occur.
“If we simply put these two collectively,” Tennessee heart Jonas Aidoo mentioned, “I really feel like we’re unstoppable.”