LEXINGTON, Ky. — Two of the top defensive teams in the NCAA Tournament meet Saturday night when No. 2 seed Tennessee battles No. 7 seed UCLA in a second-round Midwest Region matchup.
Tennessee (28-7) eliminated Wofford 77-62 on Thursday night in its opening round game, getting 29 points from star guard Chaz Lanier in his NCAA Tournament debut.
UCLA (23-10) held Utah State to 4-for-31 shooting from 3-point range and limited the Aggies to 30 percent shooting from the field in a 72-47 romp on Thursday.
The Volunteers allow just 63.0 points per game, good for 11th in the country, while UCLA is 22nd at 65.2.
Since a four-game skid in January dropped UCLA to 11-6, head coach Mick Cronin has applied the defensive grips. It was the 10th time in the last 14 games that UCLA’s opponent was held to 70 or fewer points, and Utah State’s 47 points matched the fourth-fewest the program had allowed all season.
Offensively, the Bruins were powered by Skyy Clark and Eric Dailey Jr., each of whom scored 14 as the team enjoyed a 10-for-24 night (41.7 percent) from beyond 3-point range.
“It’s different when you change weight classes, a little bit different when you change weight classes,” Cronin said. “They used to say everybody thought they were tough until they walked in the ring with Mike Tyson. Everybody had a lot to say until the guy with no socks walked in and crushed him. It’s a different animal.”
Cronin said he has nothing but respect for Tennessee coach Rick Barnes.
“I’m really happy with our effort but we’ve been preparing all year to play Saturday,” Cronin said. “Hopefully a lot of the Big Ten battles we’ve had will prepare us, because my respect for Coach Barnes is off the charts. Because he does it the right way. He cares about kids. He’s not a phony. He is who he is. And Tennessee got really lucky when somebody else let him go.”
Tennessee is appearing in the Round of 32 for a fourth straight season and is looking to reach the Sweet 16 for a third straight year and 11th time overall.
While the Volunteers are known for their defense, their backcourt stole the show against Wofford. Complementing Lanier’s impressive debut in the Big Dance, Zakai Zeigler dished out 12 assists and set the new all-time Tennessee assists record in the process. He now has 726 in his career.
“Maybe sometimes we make it bigger than it really is,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said of Lanier’s first experience in the NCAA Tournament. “I mean, these are young guys that grow up thinking about this. We played in some really loud, hostile arenas and you think that anytime you got a seed — low seed or a high seed, most of the time, they start pulling for the dark jerseys, so we’ve been in those situations on the road.”
“And again, his demeanor hasn’t changed one bit from the first time I met him to today. He has been the same Chaz Lanier in terms of the way he goes about everything that he does. I wasn’t concerned about that. I think coaches go into the game always thinking, hey, I hope we can make some shots.”
–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media
