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Tennessee falls to Houston in Elite Eight by 19, ending 2024-25 season
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Tennessee’s 2024-25 season came to an end in disappointing fashion on Sunday in the Elite Eight. The 2-seed Volunteers fell to 1-seed Houston 69-50 in Indianapolis. The Cougars will play in the Final Four, facing Duke.
There are slow starts. Then there’s Tennessee’s historically poor 1st half.
Facing a Houston squad strong on defense, the Vols struggled mightily to make shots. Shooting just 6-of-28 from the floor, Tennessee put up just 15 points, trailing by 19 at the break. UT was a dreadful 1-of-15 from 3-point territory in the first 20 minutes.
That 1st-half performance was too much to overcome. The Vols were more productive in the 2nd half, but could not cut far enough into Houston’s lead. UT was unable to make it a single-digit deficit in the 2nd half.
UT finished 15-of-52 from the field. The Vols were just 5-of-29 from 3-point territory. Houston shot 42% from the field (28-of-66) and 9-of-25 on 3-pointers.
Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier and Jordan Gainey tied with Houston’s LJ Cryer for the game’s high scorer with 17 points each. Unfortunately for the Volunteers, Lanier and Gainey were the only scorers who could find the basket.
Lanier’s points did not come easy. The UT star was 4-of-18 from the field, and just 2-of-12 from beyond the 3-point line. He was 7-of-7 at the foul line. Gainey went 6-of-12 on field-goal attempts.
Other Tennessee stars, however, were not as fortunate. Zakai Zeigler finished with just 5 points, going 1-of-9 on field-goal attempts.
Emanuel Sharp made sure Houston did not let its big lead slip away. Sharp scored 14 of his 16 points in the 2nd half, helping the Cougars close it out.
The game was tied for 45 seconds. Tennessee never led in the contest.
Tennessee finishes the 2024-25 season with a 30-8 overall record. It was the 3rd consecutive season Barnes took the Vols to the Sweet 16 and the 3rd Elite Eight appearance in program history.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
