Observations from Tennessee’s Win Against Virginia

Credit: University of Tennessee Athletics

By Tucker Harlin

#11 Tennessee (5-0) dismantled Virginia (3-1) 64-42 in an ugly defensive battle to begin its time in the 2024 Baha Mar Hoops Championship in Nassau. The win sets the Vols up for a tilt at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET against #13 Baylor Friday.

Before I jump into observations from each half, I’d like to know what the staff at the hotel did to humidify its conference room. Between this game and the prior matchup between Baylor and St. John’s, the amount of stoppages due to condensation and moisture on the court was astronomical.

Now let’s get into the game, shall we?

FIRST HALF

The Vols had a hard time moving at their desired pace in the opening frame, largely due to the play of Virginia’s defense.

I won’t say it had any friends on offense, so three-point shooting was Tennessee’s only acquaintance on offense. Chaz Lanier, Jahmai Mashack, and Igor Milicic all scored from beyond the arc in the opening frame.

Darlinstone Dubar made his season debut for the Vols, and his contributions were meaningful.

Just seconds after checking in, Dubar slammed home a putback dunk and later put in a layup. Dubar scored four of Tennessee’s eight points in the paint.

The defense held strong for much of the half, although it did allow Virginia to go on a 7-0 run in the final minutes. While he couldn’t buy a layup on offense, Felix Okpara erased three Virginia shot attempts.

Chaz Lanier, Jahmai Mashack, and Zakai Zeigler made life difficult for the Wahoos that tried to get shots up. Sharpshooter Isaac McKneely only hit one of his three free throw attempts, his singular point of the half.

SECOND HALF

Like the first half, the second took several minutes for either side to get on the board. It took the Vols a pair of eternal possessions before Chaz Lanier broke the silence with a three.

Speaking of Lanier, he came to life with seven made field goals to catapult his total to 26 and 1000 for his career. The productivity of Lanier in the second half left residual effects on the Vols offensively.

Igor Milicic followed the trend, breaking into double figures with scores from three, at the rim, and at the free throw line. Other players like Felix Okpara, Jordan Gainey, and Zakai Zeigler all scored in the later stages of the half.

Outside of a few made threes at the shot clock buzzer and a brief run to cut the Vols’ lead to five, Virginia didn’t challenge Tennessee’s defense.

Breaking the Tennessee press was a cumbersome task for the Cavaliers, one that resulted in turnovers falling into the hands of Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack.

Mashack executed on his defensive assignment of Isaac McKneely, who finished with just four points. The only made three for McKneely came in a sequence when Mashack jumped to early.

You could also point to Mashack for the moment Tennessee stole all hope of a Virginia comeback. His fast break layup off a steal at half court put the Vols up 17 with around five minutes to go, an insurmountable number for such a languid offense.

The night ended with Bishop Boswell and Grant Hurst checking in. Boswell scored a layup in the final two minutes.