Louisville entered Knoxville averaging 94.3 points per game this season, the seventh most of any team in the country. The No. 11 Cardinals had gone over the century mark four times. They had just sniffed it with 99 points against Memphis three days earlier, and they put up 87 a week before that in a victory over then-No. 22 Indiana.
But without primary ball-handler and NBA prospect Mikel Brown Jr., who was sidelined with a lower-back injury, Louisville didn’t establish the offensive rhythm Tuesday night at Tennessee that’s made Pat Kelseys’ Cardinals tick.
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Their wings were clipped by a suffocating defense that helped the No. 20 Volunteers end their three-game skid with an 83-62 triumph. Rick Barnes hadn’t dropped four games in a row since his first season leading Tennessee in 2015-16. He had his guys firing on all cylinders and guarding the cylinder like the season was on the line.
Tennessee (8-3) practically built a wall inside the 3-point line, forcing Louisville (9-2) to settle for far too many deep 3s. The Cardinals shot only 7-of-34 from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, the Volunteers should owe rent for how much they were living down low. Led by Jaylen Carey, Tennessee outscored Louisville in the paint 28-10 in the first half. The 6-foot-8, 267-pound forward overwhelmed the Cardinals’ defense, whether it was retrieving his own miss after a give-and-go and then going back up for two or making a tough catch in the post before scoring inside again or throwing down a two-handed jam.
Carey made those three baskets in succession and clocked out with 10 points and six rebounds in the first half, during which the Vols established a 34-27 advantage. Carey finished with 12 points and 10 boards.
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Senior guard Ryan Conwell kept Louisville hanging around in the opening period. The lefty hit a trio of 3-pointers. Conwell and backcourt partner Adrian Wooley combined for 23 of the Cardinals’ 27 first-half points. Conwell finished with 22 points, and Wooley wasn’t far behind with 19.
Tennessee made its move at the beginning of the second half with four 3s in the first five minutes and change of the final frame. Ja’Kobi Gillespie hit the first and then another during a flurry of three Tennessee possessions ending in long-range makes that made it a 53-38 game.
Gillespie wound up leading the Vols with 23 points and 5 assists to go along with 3 rebounds. He made all 10 of his free-throw attempts, and he went 3 of 7 from deep.
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Tennessee center Felix Okpara put the exclamation point on a bounce-back, résumé win with a pair of signature slams in the game’s waning moments.
The second came on an alley-oop from Carey, and it was a posterizer. It also preceded a big-time block of Wooley on the other end.
Speaking of Carey, he had three assists that paired nicely with his double-double. He beat the drum for an emphatic outing from a Volunteers bench that outscored the Cardinals’ bench 34-3.
Tennessee looked like the more efficient offensive team on Tuesday, in part because of its debilitating defense that kicked into gear at the right time for Barnes.
