O'Gara: Officiating didn't help, but neither did Tennessee's supporting cast in Elite 8 loss
I know. You hated the officiating, Tennessee fans.
You hated that seemingly every time that Zach Edey got touched, he got a foul call. You couldn’t stand the fact that the All-American 7-footer drew 10 foul calls before he was finally whistled for his first foul. You couldn’t stand the fact that his giant steps somehow never resulted in traveling, or the fact that by the game’s end, Edey shot 22 free throws compared to just 11 for Tennessee.
I know, Tennessee fans. You hated the way that Elite Eight game played out because it felt all too similar to the November loss to Purdue in Maui, wherein Edey attempted a mere 17 free throws.
I get your frustration. Trust me.
But in your heart of hearts, you know that it wasn’t just the way that Edey was officiated. Sure, it helped Purdue reach its first Final Four since the Jimmy Carter administration, but “help” was what Tennessee needed more of if it was going to reach its first Final Four since basketball was invented. Like, help in the form of non-Dalton Knecht scoring options.
That’s why Tennessee is going home and not to Phoenix.
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Knecht could only do so much. As brilliant as Tennessee’s All-American was on the biggest stage — he finished with 37 of Tennessee’s 66 points — you could tell on that last contested drive to the basket that his legs were gone. Instead of rising and finishing at the rim, he didn’t appear to have the legs, and Edey swatted his shot (without fouling) to preserve the 5-point Purdue lead. Ultimately, Edey swatted away the Vols’ last chance of a victory.
Even in a game in which Edey only had that 1 blocked shot, he changed the entire flow of Tennessee’s offense.
Where were those other non-Knecht options? Outside of a Jordan Gainey 3-pointer that brought the Vols within 3 late, it felt like every drive was Knecht or bust. Jonas Aidoo seemed overwhelmed by Edey’s length on both ends of the floor, and he gave way to freshman JP Estrella down the stretch. Zakai Zeigler had open looks from 3-point range, yet he finished just 1-for-8 from beyond the arc. Josiah-Jordan James appeared to have things rolling in the first half with his 8 points, but then he was invisible in the final 20 minutes.
James was the X-factor for Tennessee, and for a bit, he looked like he could be that much-needed second scorer. When he made at least 3 3-pointers in a game, the Vols were 6-0 in 2023-24 and 18-3 in the past 3 seasons. But that third 3-pointer never came.
It probably wasn’t fair to expect much from Santiago Vescovi, who missed Friday’s game against Creighton with the flu and didn’t practice all week. He came off the bench and didn’t provide much more than a seal-off on a Knecht drive to the rack.
But add that to the list of things that didn’t go well for the non-Knecht Tennessee offense.
Don’t treat that as some sort of indictment on Rick Barnes. We can move past the whole “is he an elite coach?” question based on the fact that he had the Vols in just their second Elite Eight in program history. He just ran into an immovable object in Edey.
There’ll be discourse about Barnes’ decision not to double Edey early on. Aidoo had his hands full and Tobe Awaka learned the hard way that Edey was cut from a different cloth than Creighton’s 7-footer, Ryan Kalkbrenner, who was totally diminished in the Sweet 16 matchup.
Tennessee didn’t have anyone outside of Knecht who tried to force the issue and attack the body of Edey. Easier said than done? You bet. But that at least played a part in why the free-throw distribution played out the way that it did.
It was always going to take more than Knecht. As much as it felt like Knecht was capable of being the missing piece for the program’s first Final Four run, the Vols were never going to get there with 29 combined points from the rest of the roster in an Elite Eight game. Period.
That’s a tough pill to swallow because it’s easier to just blame the officiating. Could Tennessee have gotten more calls? Absolutely. But could the Vols have found other consistent offensive weapons at key points? No doubt. That’s easy to say in hindsight when any possession without a Knecht touch felt foolish with how much he was rolling. It’s tough for others to get in a rhythm when a guy takes 31 shots in a 40-minute game, and every one of them feels like it’s going in.
That’s why this tournament is such a beast. Tennessee knows that all too well.
You can be great all year and have your best player look like the best version of himself, yet you can still come up short of the ultimate goal. It happens. It’s unfortunate when it happens when one of the most uniquely maddening players of the 21st century is on the winning side. That’ll always be frustrating.
But more frustrating should be that a team loaded with multi-year starters turtled at the worst possible time. How much of that was the stage compared to Edey’s presence, that’s debatable. What’s undeniable is that Knecht needed more help than what he got. The 1-year wonder was a revelation from start to finish for Tennessee. One season or not, he deserves to be remembered as one of the best players in program history.
This team deserves that kind of legacy, too. It embraced the idea of an outsider stepping in and becoming the star.
Unfortunately, though, a star is only as good as his supporting cast.
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When you got one or two guys chucking up 3’s all game you’re not gonna get to the line very often. I think Purdue only made a couple 3’s and they shot a decent amount so they’re probably thinking the game was a lot closer than it should have been had they just shot the ball better from the perimeter. It was still a good game, Purdue may be the best team left in it.
You’re kidding! Right? UConn will Destroy Purdue! Edey will face a more athletic big man and will be exposed. Conner is right. If someone other than Knecht were hitting Tennessee would have won that game.
Let’s live vicariously through other teams. I’m sure the other fans of SEC schools are very glad that their programs don’t settle for this losing attitude. Several of them made final fours though.
They tried. Good game.
Knecht and Estrella tried. Nobody else showed up
Purdue went 3-15 from 3 and UT couldn’t take advantage. Zeigler and Aidoo were no shows and let Knecht and Vol Nation down. Your top players can’t lay an egg in the big games.
Purdue shot 33 free throws, to Tennessee’s 11. There’s your game.
Your comment is ambiguous, I’m not sure if you are blaming the refs or blaming UT for fouling too much and not being more aggressive in drawing fouls themselves.
If you are blaming the refs, keep in mind their job is not to call equal numbers of fouls and violations on each team, their job is to call fouls and violations as they see them.
UT shouldn’t foul and play discipline sound defense. Boo hoo refs. Boo hoo. Losers make excuses.
This is the equivalent of a natty for TN because we’re never going to the final four. Our fans need to recognize we’re a nobody program.
Oskie- This is off topic but what instrument did u play in HS band? I’m guessing flute.
I didn’t but I do feel that it’s a missed career opportunity considering our school hired a trumpet player in Lyle Jones and thought he could coach football. Would have been nice making his salary to rank a program and give us our first winless conference game season.
Isn’t it great to not be a TN vol!!! Hahahah Such arrogant fans! They made fun of all the SEC teams that got beat now it’s time to bash them. By the way TN needs to get rid of those clown orange stripe warmup pants they wear! So embarrassing
Asslass- Why would YOU be embarassed if WE warm up in our PJs? Insecure childhood? Mommy not give u enough hugs?
Missed shots killed UT, but if Edey had been on the bench in fail trouble, like he should’ve been, he doesn’t score 40 points. Dude literally should’ve fouled out in the first half and had one foul. Must be nice to be able to elbow a guy in his head and get to shoot free throws. Such a dirty player and gets away with everything. Can’t wait to watch him play in the G league next year.
When it all comes down to it, UT wins if they make all the bunnies that they missed, but it sucks to lose knowing that the game was decided by the officials before the game even started.
I wonder why nobody ever types this sort of thing about us? Oh, that’s right-we’re inconsequential and don’t give anyone reason to
Seriously just take the T out of your profile, it’s clear you don’t want to be a fan anymore. I’ll wait.
You’re the one who’s being the lesser fan. I’m simply demanding UTjr match the success of 13 of 16 SEC members and win a major men’s championship, which hasn’t been done in close to three decades. Our fans show up religiously and pay out the nose for top facilities and we have only a handful of regular season banners to show for it. It’s pathetic and the fans deserve better. Unfortunately Danny White is more interested in building nicer facilities, fleecing the common fan, and fellat1ng top donors than winning. If you’d like going 4-42 vs Bama/UGA/UF in the last 12 years in football, not making a final four, and being average in baseball with 2 CWS appearances then enjoy. Just remember than we have to win 2 titles in a major sport to tie Vandy, who care so little about athletics that they had to be threatened by the SEC to expand their stadium
Looking now that NC State beat Duke, which would have been the better matchup for us than Duke, makes this sting even more.
Offensively I (kind of) agree with this article. Defensively? Awaka and Estrella absolutely handled Edey. Pretty much as good as you can when the refs aren’t calling any fouls at all. JJJ was also on him at one point and didn’t let him get to the rim at all. I’ve never seen such an unathletic guy get so much media praise for shooting 22 free throws and then saying “well the supporting cast didn’t help”. Well the supporting cast was the refs, and nobody on Purdue did anything to help either.
Purdue’s supporting cast didn’t set the world on fire either. That being said three seconds violations are in the rule book along with taking extra step down low. Also, using your hands to redirect a player in front of you is a pushing foul no matter what team you play for. Lastly, extending your arms outside your frame to clear out an opponent is clearly against the rules. I hate to site the rule book but doing all of these things is either a violation or foul….no matter how big you are or which team you play for. An honest person could easily see that was not the case in this game.
The one thing missing from all of this is we got out-rebounded 47-25. Sure, Edey got away with a couple of push off on offensive rebounds, but we had at least 7 rebounds we should have had,but fumbled them because I think our players were worried about where Edey was. If we kept the rebounds within 10 of them, I think we win even with the bad shooting of all players except for Knecht.
Oh, so now it’s the refs that caused TN to lose.
It is as constant as the North Star
Tough loss. I thought the guys played pretty well. With Aidoo getting pushed around just like in Maui and ZZ having a tough shooting night, the jolly green giant ate our lunch. Kudos to awaka and Estrella. Needed more O from others as the writer points out but a dominant center made us change a lot of what we did. A good season. Disappointing but still a good season. All the oskiee and Atlats’s can kiss my rosy red behind.
Why don’t you demand more of UTjr? 13 of 16 SEC members have won a major men’s championship in the last 20 years. Maybe be mad at those at the university who are responsible and not fans who think our fans and alumni deserve better.
Oskar youre only going to give credit to a UT team that wins a natty. That’s just dumb. Why don’t you get your expectations realistic. Or better yet change your allegiance to Georgia then bama then Kentucky then LSU…. It’s the only way you will get what you want.
Oh it’s dumb NOW lol.
I gave them credit in a different article-best basketball season in UT history. Unfortunately 11 of the 16 SEC members have been to a final four and have eclipsed our best season. Is that something that’s acceptable to you? I’m being serious, are you happy raising regular season banners while they have a final four banner? This year Barnes changed a lot in his coaching (a wise move) and had a a loaded team and couldn’t raise a banner (I don’t count the elite 8 banners that only our school has). It’s never going to happen. 0-6 for reaching that level at TN and he’s never beaten a higher seeded team in his career-that’s a recipe to never advance beyond the elite 8.
I watched the game and agree with Connor’s two points; Edey had a good game (helped by the refs, I concede) and the other TN players didn’t have their A game.
Congratulations on a good basketball season and a good post season tournament. Thanks for representing the SEC well. Anyone who wants to b about Tennessee’s season, tournament, or last game is just plain moronic.
Well if we had only lost two specific regular season games and got the 3 seed in the West regional.
Seriously, hats off to Edey. It was a great individual performance.
I understand all the what ifs after a loss like this. It truly is a matter of 2-3 plays going the other way. No one wants to win as much as the players and coaches that put in so much time and effort. Appreciate all these guys have done to make it a great season for us Vols fans.
Regardless of the sport, the ever changing world of officiating year to year that emphasizes one set of rules while ignoring others is becoming difficult to watch. You just hope you’re the right team the right year with the right attributes. Congrats to Purdue on the win but I can’t see a season of you making it this far if three seconds, offense fouls, walking, or position play is a part of the basketball landscape.
I don’t know, part of the fun of being a Vol Fan is knowing we’re the best even when we lose because we do have the best, most fun, rabid, in your face fan base in the country whether we win or lose. They don’t get it, they’ll never get it, The more they hate us, the more obnoxious we get which makes the random wins so much better. The Purdue fans have a beast player, who played well, and sure, got the calls, but I’ve never seen a team and player so angry and defensive after a win!! Haha! Right on down to Edey’s F bomb on Easter Sunday and knock at ultimate nice guy Rick Barnes. Hysterical. Laugh at it, laugh at them and keep on making us the best fan base in the country! Go Vols!
I really thought that if Edy got his and UT shut down his supporting cast that UT would win 72-65 although i called Perdue Iowa getting a dig at Iowa’s football team for its non scoring offense.i thought if UT held Edy to his average witch was 26. I wasn’t expecting the ref’s to give him another 14 at the line. I also thought UT needed to shut the supporting cast down let Edy get his and they would be ok. I didn’t see the game but sounds like UT failed to do that with Edy getting 40 and the supporting cast getting 32.I thought UT’s defense would need to hold Perdue in the sixty’s to win and that Perdue would have their shots not falling because of UT’s in your face defense.it end d up UT had the cold shooting night not Perdue. Hold your heads up Vols. You fared much better than the rest of your fellow SEC team’s not named Bama.the way UConn is playing I don’t know if Bama can beat them. I’ll be rooting for them though.If UConn plays Perdue in the Championship game I hope they don’t call it like they did the way they called UT vs Perdue. If it’s called that way you may as well give Perdue the Championship before it even starts.
Do you really not know how Purdue or Edey are spelled?
Hey, it wasn’t a bad year by any means. Well done Vols! VFL!
It was a great season and we got beat by a team that probably beats us 7 out of 10 games. Yea refs sucked by they do that to every team Edey plays. I went back and looked at his season stats. He’s not fouled out all year. Had a few games with 4 fouls.
right! vol fans had 3+ months of their team playing better than and constantly ranked higher than ~98% of the teams in div 1. that’s 3+ months of enjoyment…..an exciting finish in taking the reg season crown, bragging rights for an extra week in making the sweet 16 and then making the elite 8…in losing to the more heralded team.
nothing really to be sour about.
Who are you gonna root for next, O’Gara? I’ll know to bet against them….
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Tennessee did just what they wanted to in this game. Put it all on Edey and limit the rest of their guys. And in some really nice stretches, they got shots to go and put points on the baord. They just could not get shots to fall at the right times.
I give Barnes a lot of credit for this year. He let Knecht play. He yanked Aidoo fast when he wasn’t getting it done. He even used timeouts!!
It was a really great season that ended a couple of games too short. About the only thing Tennessee didn’t do is secure that #1 seed. Get that 1 seed and the Vols are in Phoenix. You don’t get put out there to play at 1030 on a Friday and turn around for the first game on Sunday afternoon. You don’t have to face Purdue in the regional, but instead might get them in the Final Four.
As for Edey, can’t wait to see how he does when he gets the same whistle as everyone else.
Barnes needs to find a true center. Aidoo is a power forward, Awaka isn’t tall enough facing bigger opponents, and Estrella is a freshman but he’s not the answer either. They have zero inside game against a legit big man. Purdue, Miss St, Kansas, etc, etc.
Win with dignity and lose with grace.
I guess the refs were bad in the two games this season where Purdue defeated Tennessee.
Are you kidding me.
Volapalooza, You are correct,Oskie blows.
Hey-if you’re good with being one of the 4 of 16 SEC teams without a major men’s championship in the last 20 years and are ok with UTjr not being one of the 11 of 16 sec teams that have been to a final four that’s your decision. I’m sure Danny White loves having fans like yourself that love mediocrity. I don’t want UTjr to be mediocre and have an empty trophy cabinet. Maybe if you put a small part of that anger towards the UT admin instead of people posting on a website we could have some trophies like 3/4’s of the conference do.
If you want to have s3xual thoughts about other men you’re angry with, that’s also your decision.
The Vols ran into a team with a pretty good 7’+ guy in the middle. He’s hard to guard- period. He cut down the nets with no ladder. It’s crazy. But I don’t get all of the angst- TN was playing while 12 other SEC schools were watching from home. I thought Barnes did a really nice job this season and were pretty darn close to a Final Four. At this point, I’m all for any team that’s playing Purdue. And I think UConn will be the eventual matchup and I’d like to see them give Edey some lessons in being humble…
Rocky FLOP does it again!!! Yall were focused on dribbling balls of ur chin and now the only remaining SEC team is Bama….
Back to usual programming of… Bama’s on top and TN is a flop