Tennessee proves to be championship contender in blowout win vs Louisville

Tennessee basketball traveled to Louisville on Saturday to play the Cardinals in its first road game of the season. The Vols defense came out of the gates dominant, shutting down the Louisville offense throughout most of the game. The lockdown defense and explosive offense guided the Vols to a 77-55 win.

Louisville's offense was shutout through the first three minutes of the game. Tennessee showed the defense they are capable of playing immediately in this game. It was one of Tennessee's two defensive stretches of two or more minutes of shutout defense.

The Vols defense held Louisville to 8-of-23 shooting in the first half. They finished the day shooting just 26.7%, going16-for-60 from the field, and 25.75 from three, going 10-for-39.

Tennessee's offense looked just as good against the Cardinals, whihc was largely led by transfer guard Chaz Lanier and fifth-year senior Zakai Zeigler. Both players had 19 points and create a dynamic duo for Tennessee's guards the Vols haven't seen in Barnes' tenure on Rocky Top.

The explosiveness between Lanier and Zeigler in Tennessee's offense could be lethal against any team in the nation, especially if the defense continues to hold up throughout the season.

Tennessee did struggle in one area that has been an issue from time to time throughout the Barnes era — turnovers. Tennessee had 20 turnovers in this game, which prevented them from pulling out even more in the second half and taking all life out of Louisville and the crowd.

If Tennessee can clean up the turnovers, they could be a championship contender come March. The offense is explosive and the defense is already showing signs of being dominant against a Power Four opponent, which are all really good signs for Tennessee basketball in November.

The ACC Network broadcast gave credit where credit is due with Rick Barnes and the Vols basketball program. Since the 2017-18 season, Tennessee has six NCAA Tournament appearances, 171 overall wins, and 31 wins vs AP ranked opponents, which all lead the SEC. The Vols also have the second most conference wins with 86 wins in the SEC.