First, the winners staying here.
Is it Tennessee’s time at long last? Never a Final Four to savor, but so many heartbreaks to get over. And now back knocking at the Elite Eight door after rolling over Kentucky, 78-65.
This is Chaz Lanier’s first season with the Vols. But after scoring 17 points Friday he sat in the locker room and said he understood. “I can definitely feel that hunger. Ever since I stepped on campus I knew that’s what was at stake, getting to the Final Four. I can just feel that taste in my mouth how hungry everybody is to get there.”
The pain of the past echoes around this program, with memories of March nightmares past. The 72-66 crusher to Purdue in the Elite Eight last spring, which turned into a remarkable one-on-one epic with the Boilermakers’ Zach Edey scoring 40 and the Volunteers’ Dalton Knecht putting up 37. The 62-55 Sweet 16 loss to Florida Atlantic the year before when the shooting went south. The overtime loss to Purdue in the 2019 Sweet 16 when the Vols were leading with two seconds left in regulation. The one-point loss the year before to Loyola Chicago in the last five seconds, the 73-71 defeat by Michigan in 2014 which included a controversial charging call in the final seconds, the 70-69 exit to Michigan State in 2010 on a free throw with two seconds to go. On and on.
➡️ Watch highlights from No. 2 Tennessee’s win over No. 3 Kentucky
Senior Jahmai Mashack has spent his career in Knoxville, plenty long enough to understand the breakthrough one more win would mean. “It would be the world. It would be everything I’ve been fighting for, praying for, hoping for, for this fan base.”
Friday was encouraging enough; a solid thumping of a Kentucky team that had beaten the Vols twice during the season. The lead was as many as 19 — and the final result included a 19-5 Tennessee gap in second chance points and a collar on Kentucky’s outside game. The Wildcats had 12 baskets from beyond the arc in each of their regular season wins. They had six Friday night.
“This time they weren’t going to win it from the 3-point line,” Lanier said.
“The mentality we had was not to take let foot off the gas.” Mashack said. “We didn’t want to just win by a little bit, we wanted to dominate, especially defensively.”
So is now the time, finally? Did the Vols send that message Friday night?
“I feel like we did,” Mashack said. “If anybody else didn’t, we’ll just have to do it again in the Elite Eight. We’re a prove-it school. We’ve done that in all sports.”
The Vols alum sitting near the Tennessee bench Friday would agree. Peyton Manning.
Now about the team going home.
Dear Big Blue Nation,
Don’t blame Indy.
True, this city has turned into Kentucky’s Bermuda Triangle in the NCAA tournament.
It was here that Rick Pitino’s drive for a second consecutive national championship ran into Arizona’s Miles Simon, who could have made jump shots that night in a blindfold. He went for 30 points, the Wildcats went down in overtime in the 1997 title game, and Pitino went out the door to the Boston Celtics.
It was here in 2015 that Kentucky’s mission was clear: 40-0 or bust. The Wildcats went bust in the Final Four against Wisconsin.
It was here they had a nice, seemingly manageable first round game against Saint Peter’s in 2022. Do we need to go further?
Not to mention that Duke, a constant Kentucky nemesis on various all-time lists, won three of its national championships in this town. And Louisville won its first.
What else could go wrong?
Friday night could go wrong.
It was the first all-SEC game of a SEC-heavy tournament, so a taut and tight finish seemed reasonable. Kentucky, with its 17 previous Final Four trips. Tennessee, with 17 fewer than that. Kentucky, with two wins already this season against Tennessee. Kentucky, with the sixth-most prolific offense in the land, a team that won one game this season 106-100 and lost another 102-97.
This night, not so much action on the scoreboard. The Wildcats led only 32 seconds and finished 20 points under their average. And in the end, another long trip back to Lexington down Interstate 74.
Still, it was an exhilarating first season for new coach Mark Pope, who had to rebuild his entire roster. And the guys he brought in grew to love the journey, especially the grad students who were gifted one last season to cherish.
Koby Brea, for instance.
“I think the University of Kentucky is in great hands. Just to see what he’s done this year, his first year. And not only that, but he’s a life-changer to just our group.
“I don’t know who is in charge of the jerseys and all that, but they’re going to go through some trouble to get mine.”
And Andrew Carr.
“If you’re in the transfer portal and looking for a place to go, go to Kentucky. I’ll tell you that much. Go to Kentucky.”
But their run ended here, in a familiar place for Wildcats bad news.
Something Pope had said Thursday about playing in Indianapolis. “This is where I met my wife and we started our life. It’s a really special city to me.”
He just might not want to play any more games here as the coach of Kentucky.
But Tennessee will play one more Sunday and it could end a state’s long vigil.
