Almost all of the top teams in college basketball have rolled through the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament, and now they are all going at it in the Elite Eight. On Sunday, No. 2 seed Tennessee basketball and No. 1 seed Houston are tipping off the day in Indianapolis after Duke and Florida advanced to the Final Four on Saturday night.
Houston started Sunday’s game off clicking on all cylinders, while Tennessee was slow out of the gates. As a result, Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars raced out to a dominant 34-15 lead at halftime. The Volunteers’ performance marked a historically bad half for a top seed this late in the tournament, according to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports.
“Tennessee’s 15 first-half points are the lowest in NCAA Tournament history by a team with a No. 1 or No. 2 seed,” Norlander wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Lowest not just in an Elite Eight game — lowest in any round of the tournament. Ever.”
Tennessee couldn’t get the ball inside for almost the entire first half and could never find the range from beyond the arc. The Volunteers finished the half shooting just 6-for-28 from the floor and 1-for-15 from 3-point range, finally cashing in on a triple from Zakai Zeigler with just a few minutes to go until the break.
Houston also blocked three shots and forced four turnovers as they showed off their elite length and athleticism on defense for all 20 minutes against Tennessee.
After the dismal half concluded, the Rick Barnes detractors were Lous and proud on social media.
Rick Barnes in the Tennessee locker room at halftime pic.twitter.com/PI7HvjgGcf
— BetMGM
(@BetMGM) March 30, 2025
Rick Barnes offense summed up in one play. @Vol_Hoops pic.twitter.com/08XviYVMDC
— Vol Knight Long (@BatteredVawl516) March 30, 2025
Rick Barnes is a solid coach and a good man, but I’ve never been able to get past this quote he gave ESPN in 2010. pic.twitter.com/WWqnZ4mzRN
— HurleyMania (@HurleyMania) March 30, 2025
This Tennessee basketball team still has plenty of time to get it going, but it can’t waste any time in the second half. The Vols have to get Zeigler and Chaz Lanier going on the offensive end and start limiting Houston’s guards when the Cougars have the ball. Houston also has nine offensive rebounds in the first half, which cannot continue into the second if Rick Barnes and company want to pull off a comeback.
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