CHAMPAIGN, Ill. –– Thirty possessions. Even in the middle of an undefeated start when top-ranked Tennessee had throttled anyone who happened to get in its way, Zakai Zeigler had stayed on the floor for all but 30 plays against top-100 teams this season.
Chaz Lanier is Tennessee’s best scorer, but Zeigler is the heartbeat of the Vols and the Iron Man who plays 40 minutes without seemingly breaking a sweat and has the self-confidence to probably gun for Cal Ripken Jr.’s streak if he opted for the diamond instead of the hardwood.
That changed Saturday. Zeigler, frustrated by the defense of Kasparas Jakucionis, committed two fouls in one second of game time and found himself on the bench with 18:13 left in regulation. If you were cooking up the recipe for Illinois to knock off No. 1, a lot of what transpired Saturday would’ve been included in the secret sauce.
No Zeigler. Lanier struggling to find his footing in the second half. Jakucionis emerging from a foul-filled slog to nail not one, but two (!) four-point plays, and yet, it’s the Vols who emerged with a 66-64 stunner after Jordan Gainey’s coast-to-coast, game-winning layup found the bottom of the net as the clock expired.
Onions. What a gutty win.
“To be in December and play a game like that? Whew, boy,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “We knew early. I thought it was great that when we came in from shootaround, people were already lining up around the building. When we were coming out of the restaurant last night, there was a group of students waiting on us from the Illini. Our guys knew the atmosphere was going to be what we expected. But they got a taste of it 24 hours before it started.”
The nonconference victory not only cemented Tennessee’s place atop the charts in Monday’s AP Top 25 poll yet again but served as a gentle reminder that these Vols can beat anybody at their own game.
Illinois’ defensive scheme coaxed Tennessee into 20 off-the-dribble jumpers, per Synergy. That’s an unfathomably high number for the toughest shot in basketball. It’s the second-most, off-the-dribble jumpers Tennessee had taken in a single game since the Rick Barnes era began in 2015.
Usually, that type of shot diet is a death sentence. Not for Tennessee. And certainly not for Gainey.
The senior guard, whose father, Justin, is an assistant on the Vols’ staff, scored eight of his game-high 23 points on off-the-dribble jumpers late in the second half, despite the efforts of Illinois to stop him.
“It’s what we do,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “We don’t want to give you catch-and-shoot 3s. We’re going to try and take them away. I thought we executed our gameplan pretty well. Jahmai Mashack has only played three games in his career when he’s taken more than six shots. I was hoping he would take 26 because we weren’t going to guard him and clog everything else up. They found enough from Gainey.”
That’s not something many coaches had to say about Gainey last season.
Gainey was baptized into Tennessee basketball well before he donned the Vols’ threads. Program staples like Jordan Bone and Lamonte Turner taught Gainey the ropes back in the day.
It’s paying off now for Tennessee.
“When his dad works for you, it’s not hard to get him,” Barnes joked. “Jordan’s dad said, ‘I’m not allowed to recruit him.’ Lamonte and Jordan, two guys that did a great job on our program, said if he ever wants to transfer, you want him. Proud of Jordan because everything he gets, he’s earned it. So glad he’s with us.”
It’s another example of the Year 2 transfer jump continuing to leave its imprint on college basketball. Gainey, a former USC Upstate product, shot just 32% in 17 games against top-50 competition in his first year with Tennessee last year. He’s transformed into a completely different player for the Vols in his second year with the program. Barnes knew he had a clutch gene, but Tennessee hadn’t gotten a chance to see it yet, until late in the game when Lanier and Zeigler were stapled to the bench with foul trouble and Tennessee had to turn to the former Big South product for a crunch-time bucket.
It was Gainey’s first game-winner since he stunned Gardner-Webb in the 2023 Big South Tournament with an ice-in-his-veins trey. That game was the first time Barnes saw Gainey play and proved prophetic.
“I knew I wanted him,” Barnes said.
Consider it another missed opportunity for Illinois who so clearly has a dude in Jakucionis and maybe a lot more defensive bite than originally anticipated. Illinois had Northwestern on the ropes last Friday until it lost it. It had Tennessee on the ropes, thanks to an excellent defensive game plan, until it lost it. Illinois guard Kylan Boswell and Underwood both lamented miscommunication on a few late-game possessions late in regulation that will keep the Illinois staff up at night wondering how a marquee win slipped away.
But Saturday may have said way more about the toughness and utter resolve of this Tennessee club. Not having Lanier down the stretch was supposed to be a death sentence. Playing without Zeigler in big-game scenarios just doesn’t happen in this neck of the woods. Even starting center Felix Okpara was a complete nonfactor, and Tennessee shot just 6 for 24 from downtown.
That’s turning a loss into a win.
“I’m excited about seeing the tape because I’m shocked we were able to get it done with all the foul trouble,” Barnes said. “These guys found a way to do it.”
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