Tennessee has veterans carry the load

These days in college basketball, having an old team is generally a good thing. It certainly was for Tennessee tonight as some veterans stepped up and led the Vols to a 79-70 win over NC State.

For first time this season superstar transfer Dalton Knecht had an off night when it mattered. The Vols’ leading scorer was simply in a funk tonight, finishing with just two points on 1-of-7 shooting.

Fortunately for the Vols, a couple of familiar faces stepped up to save the day. Josiah-Jordan James tied a career high with 23 points, banging in 5-of-7 from behind the arc. Zakai Zeigler had a season high 20 points, going 4-of-8 from three himself, adding eight assists and four steals.

Jahmai Mashack was in double figures for the first time this season with 11 points as well.

Tobe Awaka only had five points and only played 18 minutes, but he was as valuable as anyone in orange. Awaka finished with 12 rebounds, half of those coming on the offensive end.

“Our older guys brought it home for us,” Rick Barnes said after the win. (It was) Exactly the kind of game we thought we’d be in. Kevin Keats’ team, they get after it. They play you hard. They really work hard defensively. And obviously they played personnel.

“I told the team our older guys brought it home. They really did. And I thought Tobe stepped in there tonight and did a good job. Jonas (Aidoo), he didn’t practice yesterday. He wasn’t 100%, but early, he did a good job.”

Midway through the second half it felt like Tennessee had taken control of the game when the Vols opened up a 55-44 lead with 12:13 to play.

Turns out there was still some drama ahead. NC State rattled off a 16-5 spurt to tie the game at 60-60 with 7:17 to play.

That’s when the Vols’ veterans really stood out, on both ends of the floor.

NC State proceeded to go 1-for-7 from the floor over the next seven minutes while Tennessee vets proceeded to show that they know how to close out tough games.

James broke that tie with a three pointer and the Vols would never trail again. Zeigler added a three of his own that pushed the lead to 72-65. James then threw another dagger at the Wolfpack when he dropped in a three with 1:41 left that pushed a five point lead to 75-67. It was a shot that served as the figurative ‘nail in the coffin.’

James and Zeigler combined to score 15 of the Vols’ final 19 points in the last 7:17 of play.

It was a textbook example of the Vols’ ‘older guys bringing it home’ as Barnes referenced.

“With these guys in the huddle at the end, they know what they have to do. I mean, they talked about it. They talked about it and (getting) stops, you know. They trust each other down there,” Barnes said of his veterans and their mindset.

“They know that they’re going to cover each other’s back defensively. And they’ve been in a lot of these games and we found a way at the end. I thought Josiah made a big three, obviously, Zakai made a big three in the corner.”

“These are older guys. I mean, they’ve been in these battles … at the end of a game like that, you gotta get it done with your defense. And we did.”

Mashack made one of those standout defensive plays when he stripped DJ Burns in the paint with 3:01 left to play. The possession created by that turnover ended with a three from Zeigler on an assist from Santiago Vescovi (after an offensive rebound from James) that gave Tennessee a nice cushion at 72-67.

That was a crucial sequence that gave you a snapshot of four of the Vols’ vets making winning plays in crunch time. Mashack with the steal, James with the offensive rebound, Vescovi with the find and Zeigler with the stone cold three-point make.

I would wager that Knecht won’t have anymore nights where he scores two points on 1-for-7 shooting. But, in the event that future opponents do manage to take him out of the game, Tennessee showed tonight that they have some answers.

It’s also worth noting that Zeigler played a team high 38 minutes tonight. That would seem to be a pretty clear sign that he’s pretty much all the way back from the torn ACL, and this was a game where Tennessee needed him on the floor for that kind of extended run.

“Zakai, he was out there a long time tonight and did a great job controlling the game, really on both ends,” Barnes shared.

Tennessee is about to enjoy some downtime. The Vols have just one game between now and the New Year, this Thursday at home against Tarleton State.

Thanks to the way the Vols’ veterans closed the game out tonight, they’ll likely head into the holidays on a high note.

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