Illinois will host No. 1 Tennessee inside State Farm Center on Saturday where Vols head coach Rick Barnes expects his fundamentally physical and sound defense will travel to Champaign.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 13, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The physicality of the college basketball game is one of the main reasons Kasparas Jakucionis wanted to attempt the transition from European amateur leagues to the University of Illinois.

If physical, in-your-face defense and rebounding was what the 18-year-old wished to see in his journey from Lithuania to Barcelona, Spain to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, he’ll more than likely get his fill when No. 1 Tennessee comes to State Farm Center on Saturday afternoon.

Tennessee (9-0) comes into this game with one of the most intimidating and disciplined defensive operations in college basketball. The Volunteers, led by 10th year head coach Rick Barnes, are No. 2 in defensive efficiency by KenPom.com and it’s the style of play that routinely gets offenses out of its comfort zone with what could be classified as the Mike Tyson plan as the former world heavyweight champion said that “everybody has a plan, until they get punched in the face”.

“They hit you. They hold you. They fight you. They punch you. They knock you on their ass,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said Friday in his pre-game media conference inside State Farm Center. “Rick Barnes is a tough guy, and he demands they play so doggone hard.”

The logic would suggest that if Tennessee is going to play with that style on the defensive end of the floor that there would be opportunities for opponents to get to the foul line. Think again. Tennessee opponents only get 17 percent of their points from free throws and have been outscored on free throws twice this season.

“Every game is a situation where I get excited to see if we can carry over what we do in practice into a game situation, especially on the defensive end,” Barnes said on Dec. 9. “What we’re trying to do right now is not like being No. 1 (ranked in the Associated Press poll) derail what we’re trying to do everyday in practice.”

Tennessee, who reached No. 1 in 2018-19, have been in the AP top six in six of the past seven years (2018- 25). It hit that mark an equal six times in program history before Rick Barnes' tenure (2007-08, 2000- 01, 1999-2000, 1969-70, 1967-68 and 1958-59).

Whether it’s limiting Louisville, a team that sixth in the nation in percentage of three-point shots attempted per game, to just 55 points in early November to holding Baylor to 62 points in the Bahamas five days before Thanksgiving or keeping the high-scoring offense of Alabama under 75 points in both of their matchups last season, Tennessee has a way of getting opponents to play differently.

“When this series was being talked about, I knew the opportunity to play Rick's teams would make our team better,” Underwood said. “(Barnes) is a tough guy. They play tough. They're going to make you earn everything.”

Inside Knoxville’s Thompson Boling Arena just over a calendar year ago. Illinois got a sense of what difficult defense looked like in a 86-79 loss where Terrance Shannon Jr. (5 of 16 from the field), Coleman Hawkins (4 of 13) and Marcus Domask (2 of 11) all struggled to find easy baskets and barely any transition opportunities.

Tennessee finished third in 2023-24 in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency and placed fifth in all of Division I programs in field-goal percentage defense (39.4 percent). In five of the last seven seasons (2017-24), UT has finished top-10 in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: third in 2023-24, first in 2022-23, third in 2021-22, fifth in 2020-21 and sixth in 2017-18. The Volunteers have won 39 times in a row when holding its foe under 60 points, including posting a dazzling 22-0 mark in 2022-23.

The task for Jakucionis and Illinois (7-2) in front of a sellout crowd on Saturday afternoon will be to dominate the defensive glass so they can immediately get Tennessee in matchup programs before they set their man-to-man defensive principles.

“I think they’re very physical on defense so we have to be able to withstand that and still play our game,” Jakucionis said Friday. “We have to get defensive rebounds and run.”

Jakucionis has scored at least 20 points in four consecutive games, the first Illini freshman to do so in program history. Over that span, he is averaging 22 points, seven rebounds, and five assists per game while knocking down 15 three-pointers at a 55.6 percent clip. The projected NBA first round pick is the fifth freshman of the Underwood Era to record at least four 20-point games in his rookie season, joining Ayo Dosunmu (seven in 2018-19), Trent Frazier (five in 2017-18), Giorgi Bezhanishvili (five in 2018-19), and Kofi Cockburn (five in 2019-20).

“KJ just plays with a little better pace than we’ve seen before,” Tennessee assistant coach Rod Clark said Friday. “They do a lot of drag screens and he’s really creative off the bounce but shoots the ball really well off the bounce. I’ve been saying it all week but he’s the closest thing college basketball has to Luka Doncic.”