How Illinois Basketball Must Attack Tennessee’s Dominant Defense

Illinois' next opponent: Is Tennessee's D even better than UConn's?

Turning the page, the Illini aren't likely to be thrilled with what they find: Illinois is set to take on a Tennessee squad that consistently boasts one of the best defensive units in the country – and 2025-26 is no different.

Volunteers coach Rick Barnes leads the charge for a crew that prides itself on stifling opponents, living by the “defense wins championships” mantra. Tennessee’s No. 1 priority is always taking care of business on that end, and the Vols have the tools to get it done far more often than not.

Here are the key ingredients in Tennessee's D:

1) Individual stoppers

Barnes doesn’t just recruit talented defenders. He finds, lands and then develops them to reach their fullest potential on that end of the floor. And then, sometimes – as is the case with Maryland transfer Ja’Kobi Gillespie – he just goes and poaches an already-proven player.

Between Gillespie, guard Bishop Boswell and rim protector Felix Okpara, the Volunteers have three top-notch individual defenders – and every player who sees the floor for them is at least solid in one-on-one situations.

2) Extreme discipline

As connected a team as you'll find in college basketball, Tennessee appears to be interlinked on the defensive end. No player moves alone. And it’s not a chain reaction. It’s simultaneous movement – exactly how Barnes teaches it. The Volunteers are always in the right spot for rotations, they're effective in bringing help, they know the scouting report and they do not make mental mistakes.

Those communication woes we’ve constantly harped on for Illinois? They're never a problem for Tennessee. Just saying.

3) All-out effort across the board 

Contrary to popular belief, you can teach effort. You can ingrain the importance of maximum exertion and focus into your players. Few coaches seem able to pull off the roles of master motivator and X's-and-O’s strategist, but, at least on the defensive side of the ball, Barnes is among them.

The Vols play with the desire that many believe can only be internally driven. Barnes and his staff instill it in all of their players, turning Tennessee's entire roster into dogs, each of them consistently bringing maximum intensity play in and play out.

All five on the floor always pressure the ball, always battle and, when beaten, always work themselves back into the play. The Volunteers force teams to work deep into the shot clock, contest every shot and then live with the results. And those results tend to be pretty fantastic. Even in their lone loss this year, Kansas shot just 42.1 percent from the field.

The key for Illinois' offense

So what was the Jayhawks' secret? Free throws. Lots of 'em. Kansas earned 30 attempts from the line, attacking the aggressive, handsy and sometimes foul-prone Volunteers. And that is exactly how the Illini should get after Tennessee.

The approach feeds into what Illinois already wants to do. Underwood constantly harps on the importance of getting to the free-throw line, and between Boswell and fellow guard Keaton Wagler, the Illini have two of the NCAA's best at drawing fouls. 

Still, the Illini’s heavy reliance on the long ball and their insistence on getting those shots up seemingly regardless of game circumstances tends to result in fewer whistles. With so many interior scorers and downhill drivers on the roster, Illinois must prioritize attacking the rim and feeding its big men in the post to put the onus on the referees.

The reward is two-fold. Not only can the Illini earn easy points at the charity stripe, but they can also get the Volunteers' star players into foul trouble (Gillespie has had four fouls in back-to-back games).

Drawing fouls won’t be the only answer for Illinois’ plateauing offense next Saturday – perhaps, as we’ve suggested all year long, we should see off-ball movement of some sort. But it would be a start, as well as a fantastic way to attack a rare Tennessee weakness.