Three things you need to know about Tennessee

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After the No. 1 game and win of the Pat Kelsey era, the Louisville men’s basketball program gets its first real test of the young 2024-2025 season as No. 12 Tennessee marches into the KFC Yum! Center this weekend.

Here are the three most important things Cardinals fans need to know about the Volunteers ahead of their game this Saturday at noon EST:

The Vols’ backcourt leads the way

Most well-versed college basketball fans know it’s a guard game. If you want to be a serious contender in a power conference or even for a national championship, you need a strong backcourt. Well, Tennessee has just that.

For the Volunteers, it all starts with senior point guard Zakai Zeigler. The 6-foot-1, 160-pound guard is coming off a stellar 2023-24 season in which he was named both First-Team All-SEC and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. In 36 games last year, he averaged 11.8 points, 6.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 39.3/34.4/70.6. He is the definition of a floor general on both ends of the court.

Zeigler also has great left- and right-handers in Chaz Lanier and Jahmai Mashack, and they complement each other.

Lanier, a transfer from North Florida, is a sharpshooter who routinely torched opponents last season. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound dual guard averaged a whopping 19.7 points per game last season while shooting 51.0 percent from the field and 44.0 percent from deep. His defense lags a bit (a lot), but his scoring ability makes up for this.

As for Mashack, he’s on the opposite end of the spectrum and is a tenacious defender. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound guard has no problem guarding 1 through 5, and while his 0.8 steals and 0.3 blocks per game last season may not suggest that, his impact goes beyond just the statistics. He leaves something to be desired as a scorer, averaging just 4.5 points last year, but he did score 10 points in the Vols’ season opener against Gardner-Webb.

Off the bench, Tennessee also has a solid option in the backcourt in Jordan Gainey. While he averaged just 6.8 points per game last season, he averaged 15.2 points per game in his senior year at USC Upstate, and had 16 points off the bench against Gardner-Webb.

Potential, but still questions in the Front Court of Tennessee

While Tennessee is a team that is fueled by the play in their backcourt with established options, the Vols are not nearly as reliable low in the paint. Certainly, they have the potential to be great here. But there are also some questions about floor space in general.

It starts with UT losing their leading rebounder, leading shot blocker and third leading scorer to the transfer portal as center Jonas Aidoo is now at Arkansas.

Felix Okpara is now the man in the middle for Tennessee, coming over from Ohio State during the offseason. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound big man is a good rebounder and a great blocker, averaging 6.4 and 2.4 respectively last season with the Buckeyes. But he’s not a polished passer (0.5 assist per game) and isn’t nearly the scoring threat that Aidoo was last season with 6.6 points per game.

At fourth, Tennessee has a more offensive option in Igor Milicic. The 6-foot-1, 224-pound stretch four from Charlotte scored 12.8 points last season on 48.7/37.6/81.8, mostly from beyond the arc. He was able to show his ability to play around the rim last season, pulling down 8.5 rebounds and blocking 1.1 shots per game, but a big red flag is that he averaged 2.0 turnovers per game.

Other than this one-two punch, Tennessee isn’t super deep in the front court, which is partly a byproduct of having a lot of guards and wings. Forwards JP Estrella and Cade Phillips combined to average just 2.5 points and 2.2 rebounds for the Vols last season, but are both entering their second year of college.

There’s also guard/forward Darlinstone Dubar, who averaged 17.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 53.9/39.9/73.4 at Hofstra last season, but he may not play against Louisville . He missed the Vols’ season opener due to an unspecified personal reason, and head coach Rick Barnes didn’t say when he could come back.

A rocky (summit) start?

On paper, Tennessee has the makings of a team that can compete for the SEC, and has the potential to make a deep run in March. That said, the Volunteers haven’t been playing their best basketball heading into and beginning the regular season.

Tennessee played No. 17 Indiana in a charity exhibition in Knoxville prior to the start of the regular season, dropping that game 66-62. The Vols were very sluggish offensively, shooting just 30.5 percent from the floor, starting the game 1-for-15 from three, and had as many turnovers as assists (15).

While they defeated Gardner-Webb 80-64 in their season opener, Tennessee was not sharp on defense – something that has been a key part of the Rick Barnes-led teams. The Runnin’ Bulldogs were able to gain penetration on the Vols, shooting 43.6 percent from the floor while scoring 1,000 points per possession.

Granted, this is only a sample size of two games, and one of these games didn’t even count. But that said, Tennessee has shown some early vulnerability on both ends of the court.

(Photo by Zakai Zeigler: Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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