Tennessee was never in this one.
It was worth wondering how Tennessee would come out after such an emotional Sweet 16 win over bitter rival Kentucky. The answer? Flat.
Tennessee couldn’t buy a bucket to open this one. Heck, they couldn’t hardly even get inside the arc with penetration. Houston’s man-to-man defense was suffocating, flexing that No. 1 scoring defense to start.
Houston big man J’Wan Roberts picked up his second foul with 14:46 to play in the first half, perhaps giving Tennessee an opening in the paint. But they didn’t take advantage.
A 15-4 Houston run to open the game put Tennessee in a huge hole, and the shots just weren’t falling. The Volunteers were settling for contested three-pointers, simply because they just couldn’t get around the man defense of the Cougars.
Houston’s balanced attack was getting pretty much anything they wanted on the other end. Houston held an early 12-4 advantage in the point in the paint battle, getting easy looks at the rim.
0-9, 0-10, 0-11, 0-12, 0-13 — the misses just kept adding up from three. Tennessee wasn’t even trying anything else. They couldn’t.
Houston just kept pulling way. A 29-8 lead was built while Tennessee kept missing threes, and this one already felt done.
Zeigler hit Tennessee’s first three with 30 seconds left in the half, cutting the lead down to 34-15. The Volunteers finished the half 1-15 from three, shooting 21 percent from the field. Houston was also winning the rounding battle 26-17.
Our @ESPNStatsInfo team confirms what you just watched was historically bad by Tennessee: The 15 points are the fewest by a top-2 seed in a first half in any NCAA Tournament game. It’s the 2nd-fewest in any half, trailing only Kentucky in the 1984 FF Semis vs Georgetown (11).
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 30, 2025
It was more of the same for Tennessee out of the break. They didn’t hit the scoreboard until Zeigler hit a pair of free throws with 16:40 to play.
Finally, Lanier hit a deep three to cut the lead down to 36-20, but J’Wan Roberts quickly answered with an and-one on the next possession. Gainey answered the answer with a three of his own, then another bucket right after.
Tennessee was showing signs of life, but Emanuel Sharp drilled a three to stop the run. Gainey didn’t quit though, hitting another deep three at the other end.
The Volunteers were fighting, but still down 14 with 13 minutes to play. Houston would hold that lead over the next several minutes. Tennessee had some openings, but missed free throws, giving up some offensive rebounds and Houston answers kept the Vols down double digits with time draining.
A backdoor cut from Igor Milicic cut the lead down to 11 with under six to play. Darlinstone Dubar converted 1/2 free throw attempts to get it back to ten for the first time since the opening minutes of the game.
Tennessee was chipping away, suddenly with a tiny glimmer of hope.
One more time, Emanuel Sharp dashed those hopes with a dagger three. Tennessee needed stops and buckets, but it quickly became apparently that the first half hole they dug was just too deep.
Sharp drilled another with 4:30 left to put the nail in the coffin.
All the momentum Tennessee had was gone, and this one was done. A historically bad first half doomed this effort from the start. Tennessee relied too much on the three, and quite literally didn’t hit any of them in the opening 19 minutes of the game. You can’t do that against a team like Houston, it’s just that simple.
Zakai Zeigler, Jahmai Mashack, Jordan Gainey, Chaz Lanier, Igor Milicic and Darlinstone Dubar have put on the orange and white for the final time, going out just short (yet again) of a Final Four.
For Rick Barnes, assuming he does return, it’s now time to reload for next season in the transfer portal.